Thursday, August 12, 2021

Poetry Friday - Used Bookstore

           Thanks to Christie Wyman who is hosting this Poetry Friday, at her blog, Wondering and Wanderinghere. Take a look at "Community Poem Part 2 when you visit, full of all the ways poetry "is"! 

A small peek!
         Many poetry books are donated at the used bookstore where I work. I wish I could make them available to each of you! I do bring some home to read but there are too, too many for me to bring them all.

         However, sometimes when I glance through one, a poem grabs me, and that's what happened this past week when my noiseless entourage by Charles Simic came through in a bag of donations. Inside, among many others loved, is a poem about a Used Bookstore. I can't find it online but will share a few lines & use it as a mentor text for my own poem about MY bookstore.


           Used Bookstore - Simic

Lovers hold hands in never-opened novels.

The page with a recipe for cucumber soup is missing.

A dead man writes of his happy childhood on a farm,

of writing in a balloon over Lake Erie.

                   two other verses complete his poem


            This 50-Year-Old Bookstore

Started by a group of women declaring that

more books were needed in the neighborhood.

They rented a room in the library and started

offering books at two dollars per, one for kids' books.

It grows into its own musty place, a bakery before, now housing sweet words

instead of pastries and cakes. Here's a display within a glass case,

no longer keeping flies away, but luring another kind of taste. 

Kids' books sit low, a tangle of board books and early readers

while a gang of mature stories keeps an ABC order until browsers

break up the group, take home some Cleary, DiCamillo, and Riordans.

The stories remain loved even with worn bindings.

Wander up steep stairs to the mysteries, many spilling off shelves

into a bounty of boxes. Mystery readers love them, yet keep

only long enough to read them, then trade for more.

Visitors who know the store stride to favorite sections.

They may wish a new (used) fiction to meet new people

or a memoir of a hero that inspires living one's life for good. 

All for the coming trip, beach reads, or for a bedroom nook!

Different kinds of pain keep the health and religion shelves rather empty.   

Yet, sometimes a new donation appears to mean someone has found remedies 

and wants to pass them along.

Can you tell my imagination jogs along with the books, watching which leave 

quickly and which ones cry out for only a peek? 

"Open me!" is on the binding if only you look close enough. 

 Linda Baie ©

23 comments:

  1. Linda, I am so glad that you paired a photo of your bookstore with your poem. I found it fascinating especially since I visited a used bookstore that Linda Mitchell recommended. I have so many professional texts that I did not want to throw them away. Off I went with 4 boxes of books that hopefully will become a favorite of teachers. I never saw such an operation as in this store and now have a real insight into what you see each week. "Can you tell my imagination jogs along with the books" is your line I close with because it is apropos. Have a great weekend.

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  2. Dear Linda, I love the bakery beginnings of your book store! Your poem is scented with your love for the place and books and story. xo

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  3. Linda: I have 2 feelings every time I read about your bookstore: the first is I wish I could visit, the second is that it might be fun to find a bookstore to work in also. I've done it in the past... why not? Unlikely at this point, but still in my mind. Thanks for these poems, I thoroughly enjoyed them.

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  4. Linda, what fun! I love how you write about books--the looking for them, through them, and even caring for them and their "feelings." Beautiful, indeed: "'Open me!' is on the binding if only you look close enough."

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  5. I can tell this bookstore is in your soul and that you know every nook and cranny. It must be such a special place where you can share what your passion for books with others.

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  6. Your poem reminded me of the used-book store in the city where I grew up. I just loved it, and could exchange old books for "new" ones. Those lines of Charles Simic are wonderful! Will look for his book soon.

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  7. Nothing better than bookstores! I wish we had been there in time to visit your store when we were in Denver! Next time!

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  8. How lucky you are to work in a books store. And to bring in the books and look through.

    I love the last line: ""Open me!" is on the binding if only you look close enough. "

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  9. Thank you for this peek into "your" bookstore, Linda. How wonderful that you can spend time in this house of "sweet words." I'm not sure I would ever get any work done if I worked in a bookstore!

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  10. Aw, Linda, this is so lovely. You so clearly adore your bookstore, which of course I already knew:>) I esp love

    It grows into its own musty place, a bakery before, now housing sweet words

    and

    Wander up steep stairs to the mysteries, many spilling off shelves
    into a bounty of boxes. Mystery readers love them, yet keep
    only long enough to read them, then trade for more.

    Thanks for the photo, too. A delightful peek!

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  11. Thank you everyone! Yes, I do love this bookstore, along with a few others in Denver! I wish you could come visit!

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  12. What a treat, Linda, to browse the shelves with you … thank you for this side trip on a Saturday. I was also transported to used bookstores I’ve known and loved in other places. You’ve been such a defecated feature of that shop - I’m sure you are very much appreciated. (That “Different kinds of pain” line is especially poignant.). Big virtual hugs to you!

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  13. Aaack!!! Autocorrect. DEDICATED feature - I can’t figure out how to edit the comment - please do so yourself if possible! This is why I usually avoid commenting on blogs from a tiny phone screen!!

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    1. It's okay, Robyn, the laugh of the day! I can't edit, but only can delete, so I'll let it stand & know how many of us have had such autocorrect gaffes! Thanks for the nice comment!

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  14. (Insert forehead slap emoji here…)!!
    Thanks for being a good sport, my friend!

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  15. I love the journey " This 50-Year-Old Bookstore" weaves us on, and the excitement of the mystery section…

    "Wander up steep stairs to the mysteries, many spilling off shelves

    into a bounty of boxes. Mystery readers love them,"

    Thanks for your poem Linda and peek inside the bookstore too!

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  16. This is wonderful Linda! You brought back childhood memories of browsing at the used book store. The language here is so evocative: "now housing sweet words / instead of pastries and cakes." and I love this last line ""Open me!" is on the binding if only you look close enough."

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  17. Different kinds of pain keep the health and religion shelves rather empty.




    I love these lines....I never thought about what one can tell about people by the books in a used book store. I need to visit mine soon to ponder what's there and not. I wonder if it'about the same everywhere?

    "Yet, sometimes a new donation appears to mean someone has found remedies

    and wants to pass them along."

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  18. Thanks, Michelle, Elisabeth, & Linda. The poem was fun to write because it holds so many memories & ideas I have about bookstores & this one I know better than most.

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  19. This is wonderful! Our local used bookstore recently closed and it made me so sad. My daughter has begun talking about getting a huge bookshelf for when she gets her own room but she bemoans the cost of filling it. I think I'm going to see if I can find a new used bookstore and take her to discover the wonders that can be found!

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    1. I am sorry to hear of your bookstore closing and hope you find another, Becky.Best wishes finding great books for your daughter!

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  20. For decades I've thought that the free public library system is one of the best (if not THE best) thing about this country. Access to books, self-directed learning - true of bookstores too, of course. I miss working at the bookstore where I worked, miss it all the time! Thanks for this post, Linda.

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    1. You're welcome, Julie, & I agree about the library system, so missed during the lockdown, by parents & children (especially after school where they wait for pickup), by seniors who both obtain help & use the internet, so many needs met (& missed). I do love working at the store, know I will miss it when it's time to go!

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