Unpacking words, she spreads them out
Like cards that might reveal something
Hidden. There’s no room for your doubt.
Unpacking her words, they fan out
Into a hand, neat, clear of rings.
Unpacking those words, she spreads them out
Beyond speech. Until they can sing.

_____

Mark J. Mitchell studied writing and medieval literature at the University of California at Santa Cruz with the likes of Raymond Carver, George Hitchcock, Barbara Hull and Robert M. Durling. His work has appeared in the anthologies Good Poems, American Places (Viking/Penguin), Line Drives (Southern Illinois University Press), Hunger Enough (Puddinghouse Press) and Zeus Seduces the Wicked Stepmother in the Saloon of the Gingerbread House (Winterhawk Press). His chapbook, Three Visitors, won the 2010 Negative Capability Press International Chapbook competition and will be published later this year. His novel, The Magic War, will also be published in the coming months. His poems have also appeared in many magazines over the last thirty years, including J Journal, kayak, Blue Unicorn, Black Bough, Santa Barbara Review, Pearl, Runes, Buddhist Poetry Review, Plainsongs, Snakeskin, Matchbook Poetry, HeyDay Magazine, Indigo Rising and Poem.