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Todd Mercer

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The Dam at Taylorsville, KY

The lake rose over the docks.
It kept coming inland and uphill.
No one built their homes around it
to later drown them, but this day
the lake inundates the ground floors
without subsiding. It takes upstairs
levels an hour later. Come back
in a month, in a boat and see
if you can make out roof outlines
down deep below where town used to be.
The lake rose up, but not because of rain.


Todd Mercer was nominated for Best of the Net in 2018. His collection of pre-owned Italian ties purchased for $2 each is probably the most bad-ass pre-owned Italian tie collection outside of Italy. Just sayin’. Recent work appears in: The Lake, The Magnolia Review, Praxis and Softblow.
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