Spineless

Spineless
is the scariest word
among the books.
Spineless
is the bogeyman
picture books and
easy readers use to
frighten themselves
into delicious shivers.
Spineless
is the fate awaiting
many an old hardcover
Badly bound, frayed,
disintegrating.
Remember,
the Bennett girls whisper
to the Bagginses,
Age crumples us all
but, Oh, the stories we’ve held.