In memory of Ivan P.

In the stillness of the cemetery,
I wonder how it is a man will live
for only books, but rarely read them,
books to pile in towers

on counter tops,
tables, floor, towers that could be seen as
art, if we focused on texture, color,

could be taken as virtuous, if we
accepted his belief, that rescuing books
from yard sales, trash bins was a calling.

He planned to build a bookcase,
solid oak, floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall,
was constantly filling a notepad

with sketches, plans. When he died
we buried the notepad with him,
added books, but unable to decide,
chose them randomly.

 

Louisa Howerow’s poems have been included in a number of anthologies, most recently in, I Found It at the Movies: An Anthology of Film Poems (Guernica Editions), Imaginarium 3 (and 4): The Best Canadian Speculative Writing (ChiZine Publications), Full, an Anthology of Moon Poems (Two of Cups Press). and River of Earth and Sky: Poems for the Twenty-First Century (Blue Light Press).