Corey Mesler
2 Poems
Right as Rain
“I saw a white ladder all covered with water”
Bob DylanThe clouds look like heads of state.
Our dog makes herself smaller,
a wee hounding.
The first crack is a chamade we were
ready for. The crack
in our armor.
Darkness comes like a felony.
When this is over, we say with our eyes,
we will resume what we
were doing, not preparing.
Finally, what fell fell with kindness
and foresight.reception was crowded,
a popular party in place.
We stayed away from politics, the windows,
the food on the credenza.
We are a people, at least that, one people.
We move as one. We hold each other
gingerly, with a
nuclear family’s arms.
Watching Things Fall from a Distance
It was Bobby’s 22.
We shot at birds mostly.
Later we found a
pig rotting in a ditch.
Bobby shot a cat also.
We were carefree,
young, full of ourselves.
Later we grew up and
discovered divorce
and depression.
Death we already knew.
Though our first lessons
were primitive.
Losing brother and parent
was something else.
What I remember most is
that it was cold and our
breath hung in the air
like mercy. We pulled that
trigger over and over.
Watching things fall
from a distance.
