Bad Poetry By a Bibliophile
BIBLIOPILES
by Carmon Friedrich
(Dedicated to my friend Laura D., who knows exactly what I mean. With apologies to every published poet, both living and dead.)
Books in piles, books in stacks,
Books face down with broken backs.
(“Use a bookmark!” Mother pleads—
Son grunts back while he reads.)
On the nightstand, on the floor;
Look above the bathroom door,
Where paperbacks fit just right,
Not out of mind, not out of sight.
Musty, dusty, some pristine,
Shelves are groaning, precariously lean.
(Hear that crash—what was that?
Has anybody seen the cat?)
Authors obscure, some of renown,
Some bring on smiles, others a frown.
Every genre, old and new;
Books with pictures, not a few.
“Do you have a system to read them all?
A to Z—short to tall?”
What! Start at ‘A’ and then go on?
Perish the thought—do books make you yawn?
(Wodehouse, Wise-Brown, Wilder I’d never see—
I’d still be stuck way back in ‘B’!)
Come on kids, hop in the car!
We don’t have to drive too far.
First to the library, then to the store;
We need some books, let’s get some more.
April 10th, 2003 at 4:57 am
Uh, well, I have to admit I’m guilty of the descriptions in the poem. But I prefer to see it as boundless optimism – I really do think I’ll read every one of those library books and books that I buy. Sigh…. I guess I’m deceiving myself and I’m really just a type of Yertle the Turtle on stacks and stacks of books.
You’re a clever one – "bibliopile" – I really like that!
April 10th, 2003 at 7:56 am
Laura,
I wasn’t making fun of you, I was making fun of me! I just knew you would be one of the few people I could count on to relate!
Don’t give up that optimism.
April 10th, 2003 at 8:31 am
I knew you were poking fun at yourself, but I really, REALLY can relate! To paraphrase from _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_, "Oh the piles, piles, PILES!" (I seem to have Dr. Seuss on the brain this morning….)