It was the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. I was 5 years old, almost 6. I remember being led to the sofa in my grandparents’ living room. My father sat on my left, my grandmother on my right. I remember the sense of other people in or near the room, but I don’t remembe...
I needed to wait in the hall
I needed to wait in the hall a long time
and not be welcomed
To see your books on common shelves to be shared
Books inscribed to you
Some books I gave you last Christmas
And to hear worried phrases and roaring grunts from voices
not quite y...