For many years on the Friday after Thanksgiving
my oldest friend and I,
along with about one hundred other heavy readers,
stood on the sidewalk before dawn's first light
in front of a local used bookstore.
While we patiently waited in the freezing cold
for the shop to open, the manager gave us hot coffee
and his appreciation for our mutual passion
of the written word.

Huddled in shivering groups,
we allies of imagination discussed poetry,
comics, novels, and the world’s rich history.
While serious shoppers trampled each other
over big screen televisions and trendy new toys
inside mall electronics stores,
we found comfort, friendship
in our celebration of literature.