Take a Look, It’s on a Book: Book Title Poem

I was sick last week with a bugger of a cold and gave myself a pass from blogging. I thought I was going to have to wuss out of this week’s post, too, since I had no news, no motivation, and no clue what to write. Unfortunately, this is getting to be a familiar feeling. You remember my New Years resolution to maintain a habit of creative writing? Yeah, not going so well. My Giraffe Story is giving me problems because I can’t decide who’s narrating/what perspective is most appropriate to write from. It’s not exactly writer’s block….more like a split personality disorder. I have–no joke–six drafts saved that are ALL from different perspectives.

We are not amused.

So I’ve abandoned the Giraffe Story for the time being, just until I can sort myself out. Today I played with a horse of a different color. I was really impressed and inspired by Judy Clement Wall’s post This One is a Poem on her blog Zebra Sounds. She wrote a really lovely poem composed almost entirely of book titles. Is that a great idea, or what?

Do you know where this is going? Yes, I totally stole her idea.

It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was time consuming and guilt-inducing. (While going through my bookshelves to collect titles, I realized how many books I own that I have yet to read…) I still haven’t put all the books that I used back on their shelves. (Ugh. Seems like a lot of work.)  But it was fun! You should try it! I like the prettiness of Judy’s poem better–and don’t get me started on my photography skills–but clearly poetry is a window to the soul and mine is trying to get a message out…
(Read the poem in normal text after the photos) 

 

Humor Me:
What should I do with my life?

This is a story of
A girl named disaster
playing with books
becoming a writer
the real pretend

She is
the woman warrior,
the bitch in the house,
the blind assassin
searching for Mercy Street.

Watch her
hopscotch
through
the art of choosing,
blink
away
one hundred demons
blame
the known world
till the cows come home

The funny thing is,
the heroine’s bookshelf
is
a map of the world
a gesture life
a contract with God

Finally,
the plot thickens
the awakening
the 3 am epiphany
when you are engulfed in flames
where the lightening strikes
seeing things
truth and beauty
wild magic
miracles

 

Book Ecstasy

 

There is a huge book sale going on in my area this weekend. Not only is it written, circled, and starred in my planner–it’s the only thing marked for the month of March. Some may consider this sad (“this” being either my social/professional life or the waste of trees that is my planner), but I know that other bibliophiles would understand. Huge. Book. Sale. Say it slowly, and it’s almost like praying.

 

Now, I happen to know that some of you are book nerds like me–so I’m gonna lay the specifics down and you’d better hold on to something. There will be over 30,000 books at this sale.  And get this–prices range from 50 cents to a whopping $2. Is your blood pumping yet? Do you see why I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve? Can you understand why I might be in reading hibernation after this book extravaganza?

I treasure all my books, whether I’ve read them yet or not. (These days, unfortunately, most of my books fall into that latter category. My To-Read list is getting out of hand.) I’ve always said that if I could have any extravagant, dream-home details, I would want a huge bathtub and a heaven-sent library. That’s why I love, LOVE bookshelf porn. It’s “porn for book lovers” and it makes me swoon. These are fantastic, eye-popping, majorly enviable libraries. Someday, someday I will have shelves like that. In the meantime, I’m going to spend a rainy Saturday carefully picking through 30,000 or so books. And if I whisper to them that I’ll love them forever and will give them the sanctuary of their dreams someday? Well, that’s my biblio-business.