library – Eva Moe

“In the age of romance and chivalry, steam seeped through open hearts now it’s a gas leak up the nose and on fire. Love is now combustible. Love is now the library. Love is now the golden gilded spine of ancient text.

July 1st 2017.”

like: “love is now the library”
dislike: “ancient text”

Here’s the new version. As you can see, I’ve added a title and altered the imagery. This poem did not undergo a heavy edit, and that’s okay. Sometimes, I write a long poem only to keep one or two lines, or images, or ideas. Other times, like in this case, I keep it mostly the same.

King Arthur was a Tragedy
In the age of romance and chivalry
steam seeped through open hearts
now it’s a gas leak.
Up the nose.
On fire.

Love is now combustible.
Love is now the library.
Love is now the golden
gilded spine of mildew books
that bury in your head
songs and hatchets alike.

Eva

A Dollar Twenty
it’s 2017 and I owe the library a dollar twenty.
I forgot four books at once
but they don’t talk about it at the checkout.
no “hey look it happens but if you don’t pay us back
you’ll never read Stephen King in this town again.”
Consider me a villain.
Give me a franchise.

Miss Sayonara and the Book of No Return
and the reVIEWS, darling!
Box Office Anti Hero Stuffs Two Dollars in Envelope
Bloody Insignia Indicates Unstable Temperament
Non-Returner Repents
Book Bandit at it Again
Library Seeks Revenge
she owes a dollar fifty.

That’s it? I’ll give you three.
Take my dreams to the laundromat
show me the muscles of your forearms         dry
here’s the chipped yellow grass you can water with sepia tone
dye this landscape burnt orange like those teeth in that Western
read me the trash about galloping abs
you want a dollar fifty?
I raise you my space ship
pirate ship         indigo baby dragon
majestic brown horse         washboard nihilists
will they won’t they modern friendship
psycho brawler         dream thieves
bank bullets        shooter boots
a black cat         a salt circle
a weather woman shoots rain from her eyes
into the neck of a hipster
and I return to you with these stories.

Tag: library

From the Notebook: King Arthur was a Tragedy

A Dollar Twenty