approach the shelves
& find yourself
between the titles on spines & bones
endpapers & front matter
buttress your thoughts
& out your innards

caress the pages
& hear their whispers
between the walls all echoes & cries
an index of truth & lies
& vibes besides
all for your disbelieving ears & eyes

savour the words
& feel their taste
between the tongue & palate
then show me the words
like a string of spaghetti
unspool from your lips to my plate

sweep up the breadcrumbs
& pocket them
between the smartphone & mint drops
then pull away the parentheses
of forbearance from my mouth
& kiss while the present tense is rightly wrong