[Where for art thou…?]

by Russell Jaffe

Mechanical ancillary parts at
work again and again,
all night, pointing.
cranking out fields’ corn, where for? Using hydraulics and
workers on the night shift.
The factory is quiet at night:
thou, when it’s eaten, you eat it,
hand by mouth smiling
what for a snack wherefore art
that gold they labored for ultimately
watchful of rodents near the machine
living under the greasy belts where flashlights won’t see them.
Thou, this our sweet castle, protected by men patrolling
and earning peanuts for what’s ultimately in each box:
caramel corn, popped, glazed, machine tucked
in white and red print a
cardboard box small as a lottery ticket small
as a mouse’s coffin.
There’s a prize inside.


*Russell Jaffe is the editor of O Sweet Flowery Roses webzine.