I simply can’t say no to a used bookstore, there is some sort of gravitational pull a used bookstore possesses which grabs me and won’t let go. A regular book store selling only new books doesn’t have this same kind of pull – I can wander around but I rarely buy anything. But a used bookstore? I almost always walk out with a new book or two in hand.

Last Friday night I went to Moe’s Books, an icon of a bookstore in Berkeley. I wandered to the 2nd floor which housed the poetry section and began perusing the shelves.

This is one of my favorite ways to find poetry books, simply looking through the shelves and pulling one out that looks interesting. I’ll skim through the pages and read a poem or two, if I like what I read, I’ll buy the book. If I don’t like what I read the book goes back on the shelf.

Though I am less than halfway through the current book of poetry I’m reading, Toward Desire by Linda Lee Harper, I found two books of poetry at Moe’s that I decided needed to be a part of my collection.

My poetry finds from Moe’s Books

I was immediately intrigued by Chelsea Martin’s book even though i don’t miss you – how could I need be intrigued by a little book that could fit in my pocket? I’m about 40% through the book and I’m already loving it. Here’s a couple of my favorites:

from Chelsea Martin’s “even though i don’t miss you”

from Chelsea Martin’s “even though i don’t miss you”

I probably won’t get to Moe’s again on this trip – I’ve got another 2 weeks in Oakland but I now have three books of poetry to read. That should last me…if it doesn’t I know where I’ll be going to stock up on more!