Seattle 88, or Poem for My Mother's Birthday

How to Finish a Really Good Book

when you've got ten pages to go,
slow down.
breathe
in between
each paragraph.

at seven pages,
stop trying to guess the ending.

at four,
do not answer the phone.

at three, stop.

go back a chapter.

read it again, with a pencil.
leave a trail of asterisks
and reminders to quote.

when the last paragraph is in sight,
pray for an epilogue.

regard the final words
like your five-year-old daughter
climbing into the school bus
without looking back.

close the book
before the page gets wet.

hold it against you.
cross your arms over it.
trace the spine with your smallest finger.

tell the library you lost it,
and pass it on.