1728 Dashes Equal a Gallon
Corey Mesler
If we were a measuring people
and, at times, we are,
we would say it's still a long
time between victories.
Except the small ones, of
course, the ones secretaries and
pet owners notate.
If we were a measuring people
we might say that today
we're coming up a little short.
We might say, I loved you
when things were golden, when
our arms browned in the sun.
We might say, between
you and me, there is a gulf as large
as the poles asunder.
We might say, let's count up all
those moments, slipping
through our hands like sands,
until we are beached.
We might say, come closer,
just for tonight, with the light the
way it is, having come so
far to empurple our gloaming,
light years uncountable, if
we were, if we were a measuring people.
Corey Mesler has published in numerous journals and anthologies. He has published four novels, two books of short stories, numerous chapbooks and two full-length poetry collections. He has been nominated for a Pushcart numerous times, and two of his poems have been chosen for Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac. He runs a bookstore in Memphis.
