22 Dec love, a context — Edric Mesmer
of graphic—desires no tonality— no gist
syllabic—
remembers no mnemonics— no test
of rubric—
harkens no littoral— no coast-
al bivouac —
yet dreams often— of iconoclasts
in transit —
threads along, unwoven— past
a cachette—
disorders specimens— gust— a
yellowjacket—
regrets indifference— that ballet
trust—
and then forgets— trysts
and fatalism—
cargo of lockets— encaust-
ic residuum—
untrammeled referent— east/west
set out from—
until, at last, a guest
come home—
About the Poet
Edric Mesmer is a librarian and cataloger at the University at Buffalo Poetry Collection. He is the author of three full-length collections of poems: of monodies and homophony (Outriders Poetry Project, 2015); POEMS: now & then (BlazeVOX [books], 2020); and Tides Don’t Perturb (BlazeVOX [books], 2024), in which this poem appears.
He edits the pamphlet series Among the Neighbors, dedicated to conversations about little magazines and small presses. His own recent writings on small press cultures include paged like coral reefs (eohippus labs, tract series, 2023) and “Asterisms Among the Magazines” in the Post45 Contemporaries cluster on little magazines (2023).
This poem originally appeared as the Dusie Tuesday poem for February 9, 2021, published by Rob McLennan.
The Poem of the Week feature is curated by literary legacy awardee R.D. Pohl.