Where do you feel the greediest?

I’ve felt this way on the golf course

hungering for the perfect shot

an expression of style

under pressure

But recently,

it happened

in an old university library

Looking at the shelves

Steinbeck

Bukowski

Newton

Knowledge at my fingertips

Philosophy

not the cheap stuff you find on the internet

but ideas that take a lifetime of searching

Nietzsche

Leary

Camus

Rows reaching 500

My head starts to spin

I’ll major in chemistry, physics, philosophy, I think

the secrets of the universe must be mine

The librarian sees me

I’m holding 9 books

“Can I help you?”

“I’m just browsing.”

She looks at me like I’m insane.

And I walk back to a private room

passing several students on the way there

Nobody is reading

They’re plugged into Facebook

Snapchat

and Twitter

“I’ve wasted my life,” I whisper.

And I start to eat the words…

A ravenous reader

filling my head

with ideas

that have long been forgotten.

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4 thoughts on “Where do you feel the greediest?

  1. I admire the manner in which you gently prod the reader into recognizing that greed of the mind (greed of the soul, intellect, Lucifer’s sin of pride) is a deeper and more invidious sin than is the greed of the body (for food, wealth, sex, power et al).

    “Knowledge forbidden?
    Suspicious, reasonless. Why should their Lord
    Envy them that? Can it be a sin to know?
    Can it be death?”
    ― John Milton, Paradise Lost

    Liked by 1 person

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