No Disposals

Fiona Kidman

Like Everyone Who Likes to Read Books

I wanted to work in a bookshop to be close
to the heart of the matter, all those outward
spines hiding romance and blood-curdling
terror and chilling moments I wanted
to stay at home and be on the road all
at once between the covers leaf
after falling leaf of words I wanted to know
what they told me the minute
the author had written them down
their newness a prize but how could I release
them into the hands of others, that’s what librarians
do and for the time that is what I did
instead, standing at the library counter
giving the books over taking them back
until I found my own words and wrote them down.