Now Reading
Ode to a Bookshelf

Ode to a Bookshelf

Stalwart soldier of my living room
You take everything I ask of you
Even when your shelves are double stacked with weighty tomes 
You know I'll never read
What else would you shoulder if I asked you? 
Could you carry that fateful July day in 2005?
No not that day. Not July 7th. The London bombings. The day everyone remembers.
The day before that day, when I sat alone
Squat like a toad in a hospital gown
Could you take that weight from me? 
Is there space amongst the Shakespeare and Stig Larsson 
For the moans I made?
Deep bovine belly lowings
Primal. Animal. Pain. 
Is there a slot on your shelf for the story
Of bleeding life and loss and guilt
Into a cardboard kidney bowl
To be inspected every few hours
By a different nurse every time?
A record of the one I couldn't keep
Nestled safely for eternity 
between Joanne Harris and Ben Jonson.
1
1 previously published by Written Off Publishing in 'Nothing is Yours' March 2023