Hard cover
provides
sturdy base
Spiral binding
opens 360 degrees
Your pages never
come loose.
Toothy paper
slows down
hand that moves
too fast
Unlined pages
catch writing
sketches
lists
in all directions
I turn you
this way
and that
write sideways
and upside down.
Sometimes,
I consider
trying
something new:
Different binding
different color
different paper
different pattern
But then
I think of
the uniformity of
spiral spines
earthy colors:
spring green
sea blue
pumpkin orange
tree bark brown
Lined up
neatly
on the shelf
And
I decide
to stay with
what works.
Notes: This poem was inspired by Trina Haase’s Ode to My Notebook. I originally wrote a much longer piece that was also about what’s inside my notebook. But in the end, I liked the part that appreciated the outside the best.
the dirigible plum 
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