Knick Knack Space

there was a time
when i came home
from work and saw
ten sealed boxes
of books sitting
in my livingroom.
mark twain, catcher
in the rye. tim
obrien, bellow,
hemmingway and
carver. updike
and cheever, plath
and flannery o'connor
all tucked away
to be taken somewhere.
most of them i had
read over and over
again and i asked
my former
significant other,
what gives, what
are you doing with my
books and she said
a truck is coming
to pick them up.
you've already read
them and i need
the shelf space for
my knick knacks.
give the poor and
needy people out
there a chance to
read these books. and
i shook my head and
said no. i'm one
of them, and haven't
you ever heard of
the public library.
and she laughed and
said, why are you
so selfish.