The book

I have two quilts and a
thin sheet, drawn up over
my head - it catches my breath
and keeps out the cold air.
The thermostat's to zero as
I can't pay the gas but
the cheap red I sank and those
dry Bukowski pancakes sure
warmed me from my belly up.

Getting settled under, I hit
my wrist on the spine
of a hardback that I'd been
reading. The one that gave me
something to think over
when I put it down -

those poems were
real classy. Needed
the dictionary quite a bit,
they sure made me think.
In between glasses,

I kept putting that book
down somewhere.