Mark J. Mitchell
Fisherman's Wharf, Holy Thursday
The parking lot is composed of small lakes,
enough to wet the tourists socks. By noon
they'll be gone. April squalls conjure whitecaps
near the abandoned island and wind croons
across the wharf. Yeast clouds float past. Bread bakes-
bread always bakes. Seagulls complete their laps.
The sun blinks through the cools west as if God
were flashing her face, cheering the gulls
in their sad hunt. A bad guitarist nods
at snapped strings, his case innocent of change
as he is free of talent. The winds shift
again, blowing trash past shops with hot rod
t-shirts while two teenagers rearrange
too-short skirts. The sky returns to its dull
gray but beyond the chaliced bridge, fog lifts.
Bio
Mark J. Mitchell's latest novel, The Magic War just appeared from Loose Leaves Publishing. He studied writing at UC Santa Cruz under Raymond Carver and George Hitchcock. His work has appeared in the several anthologies and hundreds of periodicals. Three of his chapbooks– Three Visitors, Lent, 1999, and Artifacts and Relics –and the novel, Knight Prisoner are available through Amazon and Barnes and Noble. He lives with his wife Joan Juster and makes a living pointing out pretty things in San Francisco.