On the back of an old bodega receipt
I keep a running list of all the books I would buy you as gifts
if you were still my friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You’d definitely read them —
I’m not good at many things but giving is one of them —
and you’d tell me if they were worth borrowing,
but you’d of course know that I didn’t just buy them
for the chance to borrow them from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don’t need to do that (I’m a librarian for fuck’s sake)
and besides that’s not what gifts are about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wouldn’t work the same if I read them anyway.
Your eyes and the words react like vinegar and baking soda;
I’m just a kid with a chemistry set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I never read the books,
but I keep the list
in the zippered coin compartment in my wallet
with other useless things like nickels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And just like ridiculous nickels,
too big for their worth,
I hang onto the titles
because they might come in handy someday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meesh Montoya is a public librarian from New York. Her rent is more than 50% of her monthly earnings, and her student loan debt is more than she makes in a year, so she must be a millennial. Visit her at meeshmontoya.com<\/a> and on social media at @meeshuggeneh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nickels On the back of an old bodega receiptI keep a running list of all the books I would buy you as giftsif you were still my friend. You’d definitely read them —I’m not good at many things but giving is one of them —and you’d tell me if they were worth borrowing,but you’d of … <\/p>\n