The Bookseller's Confession

The truth is, I take kindly into confidence the worried faces, broken gestures, mumbled phrases of those who seek the healing force of books. Even as they look into my artfully
arranged windows, I can tell that I have hooked their souls
on the salvation of new pages. Some will stand waiting,
turn with gratitude, tumble out their fragmentary wants:
"The cover, I think it's blue...on the radio I heard an author who...something for my mum, she seldom reads...my father,
he likes history...a grieving friend....a fiftieth birthday."
The seriousness of their quests compels me to read everything
so that I will know, even as their eyes implore, the perfect book. The one they heard of, hoped for or imagined.
Everything in print is at my fingertips.
The truth is I believe the problems of all nations, every kind
of hurt, can be assuaged by a competent bookseller.

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Biography

The Bookseller's Confession is from my third book which has just been published - 'Drums and Colours'. Previous collections are 'The Country Where Love Begins' and 'Gusting to Ninety.'