Books aren’t for just reading. They’re for taking off the shelf, stacking, rearranging, and creating. (Click on the photo for a clearer and prettier view.)

*****

back when we were grown ups

we stood on such a full sea

to count the waves

blessing the boats

daring greatly 

and we journeyed to the center of the universe 

to find a room of one’s own

under the tuscan sun

or where the sidewalk ends 

*****

under the unbearable lightness of being

things fall apart

for everything that rises must converge

but the spirit catches you and you fall down

into quicksand

passing

into paradise 

with your crooked little heart

*****

the things they carried

under the warmth of other suns:

home

despair

earthly possessions

hard laughter

immortality

slowness

laughable loves

and

the secret history

of fates and furies –

and so now you know when the men are gone 

*****

Now, your turn.

Laura Yoo HoCoPoLitSo Board member and Associate Professor of English at Howard Community College.