Used Book

Something owned before,

the pages worn and yellow, the cover bent and creased.

He is suddenly aware

that every little thing

has a history.

On whose shelf did this book once sit?

And how did it come to be here,

on a table in front of a stranger’s house

in the hot July sun?

He doesn’t know if he’ll ever even read the book,

but he gives the woman a dollar

and carries it away.