Veins of the City by Japhy Mitchell

Out the garage 

and into the veins 

of the city

to work for our pay

to pay for the house

to live near the work

to send the kids

to schools that 

seem not to fail

My hands are clean

so tame and fruitless

lines like rivers

deepen with 

multiplying autumns

and soon bones are creaky

and soft

and your tongue has never

known the earth 

but only

corn syrup 

available in deluxe

packages 

Japhy Mitchell is a poet and librarian who lives with his dog Tarkovsky. He has spent most of his life writing fiction but starting in 2020 he has switched to writing poetry exclusively because everyone knows that is where the money is.