My bookshelf is tucked into the wall of our living room.
My bookshelf is five shelves tall. The top three shelves are filled with poetry collections. I have a collection of Vladimir Nabokov books in my bedroom, a few non-fiction books and novels in the basement, but these three top shelves are all poetry collections. As you can tell they are almost full, which means I will need to be creative with the next year’s additions. The second shelf from the bottom is all hard copies of literary journals I’ve been included in. Resting on top is the new Colorado Review, for which I just received my contributor’s copies this week. The bottom shelf is for kid’s books only. Included on that shelf is my favorite, Neil Gaiman’s “Crazy Hair”.
The mess surrounding the shelves, sometimes taking over the shelves, includes many toys, a pink baseball glove, Brian Oliu’s two books (which I am re-reading right now), and a revolving lineup of art. Placing a piece of art on the wire that runs the length of the fall to the bookshelf is the highest honor awarded to a member of my family. I only make it on to the line when I have a new book come out, and even then I am only given a day for each new publication. So far I’ve had two days that were full of glory and much preening on my part, and I’m already looking forward to my next book day in 2015 when “Not For Art Nor Prayer” comes out.
—
Darren C. Demaree is the author of As We Refer to Our Bodies (2013, 8th House), Temporary Champions (2014, Main Street Rag), and Not For Art Nor Prayer (2015, 8th House). He is the Managing Editor of the Best of the Net Anthology. He is currently living in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.
