hand. The teakettle, the
Kesey novel, the towels
with their frayed edges.
What we say to the dog.
The air around us, the
way we bend to it.
The house, the car, the
key to the door
we have not yet found.
Everything is used. Every-
thing is second-hand.
The rug we lay down for
invited guests. The
stereo, the lab equipment.
Our final words, the ones
saved for being saved, the
supplication to our used God.
[+]
Corey Mesler is the author of We Are Billion-Year-Old Carbon, Following Richard Brautigan, and several other books. With his wife, he runs Burke’s Book Store in Memphis
TN, one of the country’s oldest (1875) and best independent bookstores.
