They’re coming for your books.
They want to pass a law
limiting the type and number
of books a citizen can own—
a law-abiding citizen,
not some deviant who buys his books
off the street corner. They want
to make you register your books,
to keep track of who buys what,
and make you wait a week or more
to buy the most explosive stuff.
They want to put you on a list.
They might even let a doctor’s note
decide if you can buy a book!
Make no mistake, they’re coming
for your magazines, novellas, even
your biographies, and if you try to hide
or stash your books in backyard sheds,
they’ll send the SWAT team after you.
It’s un-American; and mark my words,
they’ll pry my books from my cold,
dead hands.

*

Joshua Daniel Edwin‘s poetry appears in a variety of publications in print and online. His translations of Dagmara Kraus’ poetry were awarded a 2012 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant and appear in a chapbook from Argos Books. He lives in Brooklyn and is a member of the editorial board for the magazine Circumference: Poetry in Translation.