2008

2008: Text

UNTITLED

DANIELLE KOUPF

Sometimes I want to swallow the world

And its libraries.

I'm so hungry I could chew on even the blandest books

All day.

I would gnaw at stiff bindings and crinkled pages,

Nibble leather covers,

Devour first editions,

Munch on bestsellers,

And swallow letters whole.

I want to speak five languages,

Read every canon,

Know ornithology

Ichthyology

Astronomy

And art.

I want to consume history and philosophy

For breakfast.

But sometimes it's too much

And I just want to be

Empty or hungry.

Alone.

I don't want to know inequality

Injustice

And imbalance.

I don't want to know ambition or pressure,

Expectation, competition,

Failure or success,

Hard work and defeat.

I want to be free.

But I want to be full.

2008: Text

TBR

Sarah Scally

Sometimes I will spend my days on Goodreads

And stalking library catalogues.

I’m looking for something long enough to capture my attention

All day.

I want to consume and enjoy

Every ‘best books of 2020’ list

Plan to feast on every Pinterest poem I find

I want to write best sellers

And covet letters

that might one day be kept in online libraries.

In my hands is a tool that can teach me languages

Mismatch old canons

Tell me biographies and answer

Every question I have about birds or fish or even stars.

I can see art old and new without leaving my bed.

I am full to the brim and overflowing with books to read

Before breakfast.

I am a king in a castle

Turning away food because

There is simply no time to eat,

To be empty or alone.

No way to hide away,

in a glass library in college,

From injustice or imbalance.

I pile on pressure

Expectation, competition

Unsure if I’m scared of

Failure or success.

Terrified to leave.

But unable to stay.

2008: Text