2 Poems

by Corey Mesler

Stefene Writes Again

“First we feel. Then we fall.”
--James Joyce

Stefene writers again.
The Leopold is in bloom.
How to tell an ague
from its spots.
The railroad takes you into
infinity but it
leaves tracks. Shoot the works,
look at the big
picture. That’s you outside the
frame though
the crime is yours, anyway.
Stefene writes again.
The words line up as if for chow.
There is chow.
Now that the air is cooler.
Now that the cool is easier.
Now that the kittens visit
but do not eat.
How to tell a Leopold
from its spots.
Because it’s a new era.
Because there is still this: de-
sire. And because
Stefene writes again. To say,
yes, she will write again.

____________________________________________________________________________

A Ravary

for Kim

Your body was marble,
hard and white. And when
you opened your serious legs
and fixed your ankles on
my shoulders, I knew a geometry
vouchsafed few mortals.
You said, we’ve already done
things my husband and
I never. You said, this is very
new to me, very moving.
I listened like a dove.
I was in love. I was hit hard,
a man with one blind eye.
You were so beautiful my heart
engaged, the pain was like
cold, cold marble cold. Even-
tually, you said, thanks I am
moving away. You said,
I didn’t mean to hurt you but I am
already a memory, one
that will hurt only when
you think about your bed.
Don’t think about the bed, I
told myself, going there
once a day, for rest, for dreams, for
the ripe suffering we all need.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

COREY MESLER is the owner of Burke’s Book Store, in Memphis, Tennessee, one of the country’s oldest (1875) and best independent bookstores. He has published poetry and fiction in numerous journals including Turnrow, Rattle, Pindeldyboz, Quick Fiction, American Poetry Journal, Thema, Mars Hill Review, Adirondack Review, Poet Lore and others. He has also been a book reviewer for The Memphis Commercial Appeal and Memphis Flyer. A short story of his was chosen for the 2002 edition of New Stories from the South: The Year’s Best. Talk, his first novel, appeared in 2002. His 2nd novel, We Are Billion-Year-Old Carbon, came out in January 2006. His novels have received praise from Lee Smith, John Grisham, Robert Olen Butler, Frederick Barthelme, George Singleton, Marshall Chapman, Steve Stern and others. His latest poetry chapbooks are The Hole in Sleep (2006), The Agoraphobe’s Pandiculations (2006), Publisher (2007) and The Chloe Poems (2007). His poem,"Sweet Annie Divine," was chosen for Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac. His first full-length collection of poetry, Some Identity Problems, is due out in 2007. He also claims to have written "Dang Me." Most importantly, he is Toby and Chloe’s dad and "Cheryl’s husband. He can be found at www.coreymesler.com.