obsessively she gathered books of poetry
- from everywhere!
altho 'twas rare she'd opened them to read.
upon the shelf they gathered dust, were rearranged
and kept with care.
economy undone!- by specious greed!

possession seemed to matter of such library
herself to own,
tho muses kept her journals ever filled;
so she no time or leisure had to read the rhymes
within these tomes.
"what waste! - for what?!" she thought; but bought them still.

concession to compelling whim was foreign to her
-otherwise,
so why this contradiction should subsist
despite the fact they sat upon the shelf, unread!
- no alibi's -
nor clear to her were reasons to resist.

eventually technology provided her
an aperature,
-at last! a chance her madness to redeem
upon a page in cyberspace by sharing poems
and literature
that formerly were prisoners, - it seemed.

i knew a man who used to gather thinkets by the
hundred-fold;
i wondered why he'd bother doing this.
til through the village saw him stroll and kids encircled:
friendly, bold;
and he bestowed on each some precious gift!