Stories Surrounding Do not judgethe five minutesbefore click-closing and goodnightcustomer wearing his hoodieup and bringing his smudgy suitcase in;this customer, wheeling in on the well tumbled cushion of whatever good time he’d been having.Do not judgethis customer who was surprisedand grateful we were still herebecause his social workerbrought him here when he was elevenand bought him Coralineand he’d…
Tag: reading
Right book, right moment
As a librarian—and now as an occasional bookseller, I have said to the people who approached me with frustration at not liking the book they recently read— Before you dismiss it entirely, consider that it might not be about the book…it might be about the moment. Keep your mind, eyes, instinct, open for the book…
Why I Bring a Book to the Kitchen
Why I Bring a Book to the Kitchen The relaxation of travelby reading and sinkinginto elsewhere’s talewhile gently, unquestionably,bound to the holy of hereby the the hum of the refrigeratoris as much a sign of your loveas anything else, at the end of the day.Sometimes, that’s all it takes—the grounding reminders of presence,of the goodness…
To Know When my Life has been Saved
There must be always remaining in every person’s life some place for the singing of angels, some place for that which in itself is breathlessly beautiful…The commonplace is shot through with glory; old burdens suddenly become lighter; deep and ancient wounds lose much of their old, old, hurting…Despite all of the hardness of life, despite…
A Poem: Reading in late July
Reading in Late July The humid weight of summerpresses into the page of the bookwhich begins to set roots in my handswhich begin to stick to my lapwhich succumbs to the gravitational pullof the bench and the bench to the porchand the porch to the lazy earth, thusrendering all suspended in a hazy stillnessthick with…
Consider the Lilies 