I reach for the volume she
loaned me, bending corners
each time I pause.
There’s love in it, and action.
Bars where humans drink,
and where freedom’s taken
away. There’s comfort when
the world intrudes, and a
new chapter lets the hero
come back home. The girl
who first let him touch her
is dying. He lifts her, with
the help of others, out
to the ambulance. It’s a
sadness I can afford, that
of someone else’s life,
ink smudged as I turn
the page. I take my time,
because it must last till
we’re ready to go outside
again, when she
reminds me it’s overdue.
Return it I must,
along with her love.