Kim Rodrigues | + Follow Poet |
Couplet | + Fav Poem | Comment | Email | Print |

Banish Me To the Bookshop

BANISH ME TO THE BOOKSHOP

Chain me, so I can roam. Lock me away in this bower.
Banish me to the bookshop - i’ll enjoy this affair for hours!

First editions recline behind smudge-proof glass.
Lock-and-key lick of lips, but I can’t afford the brass

ring, the covet of unopened leather, so I’d dance
through each unshielded shelf, illuminated romance,

the touch like a lover’s touch, before the cover’s
turned down. Miniature to oversized, to discover -

here titles do matter - beautiful, powerful, charming.
Turning over the self-help discourse, disarming

of self-loathing, fear, and bitter soul. Then straight
to a perfumery of fairy tales, feel the weight

of each piece of fruit in the balance of my teeny palms.
Even in the claustrophobic stuffiness of this shop, I feel calm.

Like tickling braille, my fingers glide over each word,
riveted by the familiar scent, I close my eyes, bestirred

by mysteries, history, fantasy, and the coquetry,
the delicious pageantry, vivid hues and imagery of poetry.

Chain me, so I can roam. Lock me away in this bower.
Banish me to the bookshop - i’ll enjoy this affair for hours!

3/10/2021
Bookshop
Sponsor: Kai Michael Neumann

Copyright © Kim Rodrigues | Year Posted 2021

Please Login to post a comment

Paula Goldsmith Date: 3/18/2021 4:07:00 PM Congratulations on your win. What a wonderful story/write and pictures. Love your line, "Banish me to the bookshop - i’ll enjoy this affair for hours!" I love bookstores both new and old one. Have a blessed day........................ Login to Reply

David Kavanagh Date: 3/18/2021 6:07:00 AM Congratulations Kim, banished to the bookshop, great place to be exiled to, we can all fully relate to this lovely poem, cheers David Login to Reply Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/18/2021 12:09:00 PM Thank you, David!

Gary Radice Date: 3/18/2021 3:07:00 AM I think many people lose themselves in a bookshop. I'm always fascinated by the first editions locked behind glass. Great poem Kim. It seems many people love bookshops if the list of winners in Kai's competition is anything to go by. Cheers - Gary Login to Reply Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/18/2021 5:19:00 AM Thank you, Gary! I went to the cowboy museum, its library, and the librarian donned white gloves to show me some books in the glass case.

Kai Michael Neumann Date: 3/18/2021 2:18:00 AM Where else to would one want to be banished? Kind wishes, Kai Login to Reply Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/18/2021 5:19:00 AM Right?! Thank you for my placement in your contest, Kai! :)

Kenneth Cheney Date: 3/11/2021 5:35:00 AM Outstanding, really enjoyed this piece on the bookstore. When I was in my teens I got locked in a bookstore. They closed up not realizing I was still in there. It was a bit disconcerting. Fortunately there was still someone in the store office and I was able to get their attention and they unlocked doors so I could get out. Login to Reply Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/11/2021 6:25:00 AM Wow! I got locked in a park with my 3 kids! Exit barred. No one in sight. It was not my oversight but that my daughter ran ahead and when I met up with her we were locked in. My son’s running coach left him as a 6th grader all alone where he found us on the trail. I found my way out scratching my car on a tree and reported it. Crazy!

Gershon Wolf Date: 3/10/2021 4:50:00 PM I love your love affair with the bookshop. You really extended that simile -- 'the touch like a lover's touch' -- so alluringly. Superb! A FAVE for me. Thanks, Kim. Login to Reply Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/10/2021 6:25:00 PM Thank you so much!

Darlene De Beaulieu Date: 3/10/2021 12:06:00 PM Hello Kim, I have books of poetry I read one at a time. Than i have tow other bokks I read when in the mood. I am reading several books not just poetry. i love the bookstore. i can spend hours there. Hugs Darlene. Login to Reply Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/10/2021 6:29:00 PM Thank you, Darlene! Always a pleasure! Hugs...Kim Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/10/2021 6:25:00 PM Thank you, Darlene! Always a pleasure! Hugs...Kim

Victor Buhagiar Date: 3/10/2021 9:50:00 AM Superb couplets. I used to read so many books and have my own library. But poetry takes most of my time and I am really getting old and need rest. Login to Reply Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/10/2021 6:29:00 PM I read so much poetry too that it is hard to read other books. Thank you! Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/10/2021 6:24:00 PM I read so much poetry too that it is hard to read other books. Thank you!

Ilene Bauer Date: 3/10/2021 8:49:00 AM beautifully written, kim! i can certainly relate. best of luck in the contest... Login to Reply Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/10/2021 8:52:00 AM Thanks, Ilene!

P.S. Awtry Date: 3/10/2021 8:06:00 AM I agree! Especially loved, "Like tickling braille, my fingers glide over each word." There is a theatrical feel to this piece. I could see this sung in a musical :) Login to Reply Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/10/2021 8:20:00 AM Thank you so much! Bookshop - the musical...lol Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/10/2021 8:15:00 AM Thank you so much! Bookshop - the musical...lol

Ann Peck Date: 3/10/2021 7:24:00 AM Oh me, too! We would be like kids in a candy store! Login to Reply Kim Rodrigues Date: 3/10/2021 8:16:00 AM Yes! And working at a library is kin. But many a bookshelf will do. I’m drawn to each one, even in a thrift store or perhaps especially there because you just might find something of great value.