your first lover

your first lover
was not a lover at all,
but a professor
of english and literature.
preaching in the eight
o'clock hour
of morning, the beauty
of words, of books.
what friends they
will be for life, he
said. keep them close.
put them onto shelves
and touch them, read
them again, and be filled
once more. let each
story seduce you into
reading another, and
another, and perhaps,
if touched by some
glorious miracle, you
too will find one in
you to write and place
upon your shelf, or
that of others.