CALL ME BELOVED

it’s not enough to say that we were made this way.
this doesn’t account for what cannot be explained –
these quirks of the human condition – these affects
that we adopt and scarcely notice.

down the aisles of the bookstore I clasped three titles –
nestled casually against my palm, the weight of them
was familiar and reassuring. I found my happiness there,
suddenly – as if it was stuffed haphazardly between books,
unnoticed as we were whirring by.

we picked the shelves clean like vultures.