Book Mobile for Michael Macklin

by Anne Britting Oleson

Who else would drive by,
holding that cigarette out the window
of a pick–up which had seen
better days years ago — only
to slam on the brakes,
reversing down Falmouth Street
to where I stand on the sidewalk?
Who else would shift that smoke
to the other hand, and grab
a fistful of books to wave at me?
Have you read this?  This?  How ’bout this?
A gift of poetry, of words
and the music that carries them?
Who else would spread
poems like the gospel from
the front seat of a work truck,
from the top of a ladder,
in a bar, at a concert, in a meeting?
And who else, I ask myself
as I wander the lost streets tonight —
who else will do it now?