Bookstores Are Closing

by Bryan Bradley

Still some try to pile a stack of road maps and new apartments
To try to cover the roots that trace back to where we come from
Starting new life after new life
until the old ones are blown apart like clouds in the winter
Time is doing it’s best to destroy
our sentiments
Book stores are closing,
Art is easily skimmed through on quick trigger mediums
I fight not to forget,
I like the scars and the ink and my past,
The beauty felt through pain and joy
I like the tangible we carry with us
Bearing witness to the life we have stamped into the earth

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Bryan Bradley is a junior marketing major at the University of Pittsburgh and was raised just outside of Philadelphia. He believes that the worst characteristic a person can have is an inability to laugh at themselves. He prefers to write later at night and considers himself an “insomniac poet.” His favorite poet and current literary idol is Allen Ginsberg. His major vice, which was passed down by his father, is Bruce Springsteen concerts. As friends and former teachers will note, he is friendly, “but never shuts up.” He envies your beard-growing abilities.