They’re always strangers,
these riders,
made stranger
by blurred vision.
Their faces—
thumbprints
on my useless eye.
Mark J. Mitchell was born in Chicago and grew up in southern California. Previous to the pandemic, he worked as a tour guide in San Francisco. The temporary death of tourism has left him unemployed. Before that, he worked for 30+ years in the wine and liquor business at the retail and promotional ends of the industry. He is very fond of baseball, Louis Aragon, Miles Davis, Kafka and Dante. He lives in San Francisco with his wife, the activist, Joan Juster. His most recent collection, covering his guiding years, is Roshi, San Francisco (Norfolk Press)