THE EVOLVING CITY David Salner   MANHATTAN SEASONS summer tomatoes trucked in from Jersey with a little dirt. Also, romaine and dressing. When I get back from Rockaway, after I’ve gotten the sand out, I'll wash them under cold water and use a sharp knife. fall on my way home from work I'll look for meat on sale and something I can use for a starch—coffee filters, some brandy, and The News so I can read about a wide receiver’s ACL. winter these old buildings were built for Jewish immigrants. Some facts are meat to chew on. I'll slice the zuchini and onions and then go out for margarine, a little hamburger, and some aspirin. spring at the liquor store that never opens its grating I’ll pick up something in a dry Chilean then chick peas, cucumbers, and peppers. A clean breeze flutters in the curtains.     David Salner worked as an iron ore miner, steelworker, and machinist. His poetry is deeply influenced by the people he knew during the 25 years he worked at manual trades. His poems have appeared in Threepenny Review, North American Review, Witness, and Poetry Daily. He received a Puffin Foundation grant to study the real history behind the John Henry myth. His poem sequence, John Henry’s Partner Speaks, was published in January 2006 by Pudding House. His fourth collection is due out from Word Tech in 2008. Now semi-retired, Salner lives in Frederick MD with his wife, Barbara Greenway, a high school English teacher.   Published in Volume 8, Number 4, Fall 2007.