Temptation
By Lucia Cherciu
Temptation: I find sandals for me
when looking for gifts.
Confusion: I buy two dresses for me
when shopping for canning jars.
Some claim gold has healing properties;
right, money helps.
I research claims about the benefits of silver.
Kissing of icons, silver chalice, silver spoons.
Temptation: at the Cǎrtureşti Bookstore in Bucharest
they don’t arrange the books in alphabetical order
so I pick every book on the shelves and buy
all of them till the plane dips.
Temptation: my sister has bought enough books
to build a mansion. Her daughter’s mansion is in those books:
she’s getting a six-year undergraduate degree in Architecture.
There should be a law about sharing your books
like communal forest bathing.
Recycling archetypal love stories.
Do you lend your books?
Giving a book as a gift
is like buying a string bikini for your friend:
when you know, you know
This story originally appeared in Stonecoast Review Issue 18.
Photo by Ray Seven.