Books

William James downtown
is a free box orphanage
for forgotten worlds of word.

Bastard books beg
from the sidewalk,
pleading eyes windows
to worlds.

If only more people would shut up
and read
shut off the TV
and read
shut off their phones
and read
shut the fuck up
and read
more
we would have better things
to talk about.

Those castaways,
those homeless
wandering books
that preserve time,
they populate my life,
gathering and lingering,
seeking my solace
I seek in them.
Thus, I am the patron saint
of lost souls.