The Ancient and Honorable Bibliophilic Society

Russell’s Poetry

The History of the Reading of a Book as Revealed in its Pages

Read more of Russell’s poetry in Wild River Review, including “A Different Concept” and “Grand Junction Cemetery”

The History of the Reading of a Book as Revealed in its Pages

Pressed on pages four and five
the bloody imprint of a fly.

And here an index
finger and a thumb
have left a smudge
of chocolate, coconut, and rum.

This condom foil laid
between two sheets
of paper, mark a climax
abrupt-
ly
interrupt-
ed.

These tear stains from a sob
cover the page where
innocence was robbed.

And on page 211,
if you please,
the dried remainder
of a sneeze.