Kim Rodrigues Poet Couplet

Notes About The Poem

 

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

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Paula Goldsmith March 18, 2021 at 4:07 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........................

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

Gary Radice March 18, 2021 at 3:07 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 Kim Rodrigues March 18, 2021 at 5:19 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 March 18, 2021 at 2:18 AM Where else to would one want to be banished? Kind wishes, Kai Kim Rodrigues March 18, 2021 at 5:19 AM Right?! Thank you for my placement in your contest, Kai! :)

Kenneth Cheney March 11, 2021 at 5:35 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. Kim Rodrigues March 11, 2021 at 6:25 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 March 10, 2021 at 4:50 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. Kim Rodrigues March 10, 2021 at 6:25 PM Thank you so much!

Darlene De Beaulieu March 10, 2021 at 12:06 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. Kim Rodrigues March 10, 2021 at 6:29 PM Thank you, Darlene! Always a pleasure! Hugs...Kim Kim Rodrigues March 10, 2021 at 6:25 PM Thank you, Darlene! Always a pleasure! Hugs...Kim

Victor Buhagiar March 10, 2021 at 9:50 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. Kim Rodrigues March 10, 2021 at 6:29 PM I read so much poetry too that it is hard to read other books. Thank you! Kim Rodrigues March 10, 2021 at 6:24 PM I read so much poetry too that it is hard to read other books. Thank you!

Ilene Bauer March 10, 2021 at 8:49 AM beautifully written, kim! i can certainly relate. best of luck in the contest... Kim Rodrigues March 10, 2021 at 8:52 AM Thanks, Ilene!

P.S. Awtry March 10, 2021 at 8:06 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 :) Kim Rodrigues March 10, 2021 at 8:20 AM Thank you so much! Bookshop - the musical...lol Kim Rodrigues March 10, 2021 at 8:15 AM Thank you so much! Bookshop - the musical...lol

Ann Peck March 10, 2021 at 7:24 AM Oh me, too! We would be like kids in a candy store! Kim Rodrigues March 10, 2021 at 8:16 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.