screaming letters warn
cautioning, threatening
but I lean in
revel in the reveal 
most don’t like spoilers
but I live for them

as I turn page after page.
I lose control, the story
gets away from me. 
takes its own course 
until I know the ending
and then I can brace myself

for the inevitable fall.
biographies are nice
packaged with its pre-spoiled endings
Helen Keller? 
she graduated college.
Anne Frank? 
she died.
it’s good to know before

I read a lifetime.
A messy timeline packaged into
a neat six by nine prism 
ready for someone to 
share its journey through 
the ups and downs 

of chaos. 
With each chapter there’s
A new piece to the puzzle
some are pristine, shiny pieces
others are weary, cardboard peeling
but it’s okay
because I already 
know what the puzzle will
look like when

it’s done