Poetry: The Right Place

The Right Place

“I'm looking for a book,”

said the man, and his eye

roved around the room

as though he wasn't sure

that a bookstore was really

where he was supposed to be.

Though any person who

walked into a fast food restaurant

and said they were looking

for a hamburger might be met

with bewilderment, I could

not afford to lose a customer.

As such, I leaned forward

and I replied with a straight face,

“Well, you've come to the right place.”

A/N: I used to own a bookstore. I was looking through an old notebook the other day and found this gem I wrote down after it actually happened to me. I don't remember what the guy said after I responded (probably laughed) but it was not the first time someone walked into the store and said that phrase to me without elaborating further.