library forensics

i) i never require company to take off their shoes. no surprise that i keep finding foot prints. no one ever wiped their feet.

a) open-door policies lead to unwanted guests, and i’ve had a hard time keeping track of who’s been renting and who is here for good.

b) open-book policies make it difficult to ascertain who read the facts and who just wrote in the margins.

1) some damage is evident. a coffee ring here, ripped edges there. i find more dog-eared pages these days than i’d like to, but i just keep unfolding corners. not that the wrinkles disappear. but they’re easier to look past.

ii) long-forgotten tenant leaves a microscope.

a) there are more fingerprints than i once realized.

1) i know who these fingerprints belong to.

2) i don’t know who all of these fingerprints belong to.

b) tear stains smudge ink.

1) salt crystals cluster.

c) tear stains are harder to look at than finger prints.

iii) it would have been smarter to use a time stamp. it would have been smarter to alphabetize. no. to place in chronological order. no. these pages are all tearing. these pages are all mixing. how many books do i have here?

iv) i hire a cleaning service.

a) the footprints have stuck in wet cement. i didn’t realize they were here when the foundation was poured.

1) i should have hired an exorcist.

2) i should have sold the property.

3) i should have burned this place down.

v) i should have burned this place down.

After what is the reason for your absence by Atifa Othman - @ao_poems