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Autumn Leaves

volume 7 number 6

Measuring My Day

by Taylor Graham

At dawn I carry the flag to its standard
(a piece of rebar hammered into ridgetop soil)
and unfurl it — not so much a political statement,
as how the east wind takes fabric from dawn,
and waves it toward the sun
that's just now rising eye-level through pines.

And then I walk back to begin my day: make coffee,
feed the dogs. Later I'll walk out
under the noonday sun, not daring to look it
in the eye as it stares me down
to a squat black shadow.

At last, afternoon lengthens
to a shadow so much longer than myself,
measuring earth before it merges into the dark
that's all I know of night.

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Copyright © 2003, Taylor Graham, all rights reserved.

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