Reading List Poem by Roy Blokker

Dead writer having writ,
Add his name to the reading list,
He says, climbing into
Someone else's car.
Dead man running up the slopes
Of Kilimanjaro in a gorilla suit,
So hot his sweat melts
The snow cap
Dripping.
Important stuff, he tells me slowly,
Importantly, the hitchhiker
With broken thumbs and oh so many
Books
To read.
I jot down the name
Fighting back tears.
Are you finished? he asks me now,
Seeing my pen in frenzied dance.
Are you even listening?
I look up into his eyes,
Deep pools of sorrowful life,
Small flecks of unbridled joy
Floating in still waters.
I tell him, Never, not until you add
My name
To the list
And jot it down
Fighting back tears.