The Thief
03/2010 Joshua Abelow

It's the oddest thing.
I'm on a plane
to San Francisco.
To my left is a young, soft,
beautiful, unapproachable girl
that I don't want to
approach anyway.
To my right is a woman
with my mother's hands.
The hands are holding
and turning the pages
of a book that is
also familiar. It's
a book I read
a few years ago
called, The Moviegoer.
My mother loaned
it to me, but I
have not returned it yet.
The Moviegoer
sits on a shelf
in my bedroom
with many other
books I borrowed
but choose not
to give back.