Intruder

In a rented beach house,
A lonely bookcase,
With a dusty offering
On crumbly yellow paper:

Reader Digests,
Romances, detective stories,
And 10,000 Jokes for Every Occasion,
Probably acquired at a garage sale.

One newish hardback stands out
In maroon covers, uncomfortably
Rubbing shoulders with her neighbors--
Milosz's "A Treatise on Poetry".

Inconceivable that it was acquired
The complement the collection;
Probably, was left behind by a guest
And missed greatly thereafter.

Taking it wouldn't be theft;
Rather an act of kindness,
Letting her neighbors,
Close their ranks against the intruder.