This is the most scuffed, torn, dogeared poetry book I’ve ever checked out of a library, so I don’t worry about taking it to work, buried in the midden of spare wool shirts and diesel-soaked gloves heaped on the floorboards of the passenger’s side. Honoring tradition, I leave tracks for the next reader: a smear of blood from a skinned knuckle, a flake of huckleberry pie crust flecked purple, ribbons of birchbark marking my favorites. I wash the poems down with black tea, straight, and chew on them all afternoon.
from Pathfinder by Robert Love, Up On Big Rock Poetry Series, 2023, Shipwreckt Books Publishing, Winona MN
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