Contributor: JD DeHart

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We lined up in a row
around what seemed
like the entire world.

It was just a bookstore.

I ran through my mind
threads and ramblings,
a well-rehearsed speech.

What would I say to the now-
famous author when I walked
by? How to make myself
memorable, if only briefly?

Julian Barnes questions why
we care about authors beyond
their words. It's a fair question.

I wish I could say it was poetic,
but I wound up spitting more
than talking, slobbering words
out like an autograph hound.


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