On Purging Books

Getting shut of books
inspires strong FOMO.
And why is this brand of FOMO so strong?
The dust,
the jacket,
the odor so iconoclastic,
the letting go of books
that have been cradled,
one more time wiped down.
Brittled leaves
leafed through once more,
have revealed bookmarks and news clippings
and post-its and marginalia,
and four leaf clovers–
so profound and felt,
a loss,
intimate and singular.
Maybe I need to embrace this pent up power.
Uncoiling and slowly unsprung,
not recoiling like a gun,
but warning like a copperhead
on its spine.