Dogearing

I don’t think I would mind dog-earing my books

If it weren't for the influence of booktok and bookstagram

If imperfections were romanticized and I didn’t always have to read by candlelight

Maybe

Just maybe 

Folding over that top corner

Using my pointer finger and thumb 

to crease the page forever

Wouldn’t be viewed as a crime

But rather be seen as a prime

I would like to pick up All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Years from now and see the creases that past me tried to straighten out

Be able to tell when I could barely read a whole page

Or when I must have read for an hour

Noticing the differing sizes of the folded corners

The ones I forgot to return to their original state

The original state in which the book

had that Barnes & Noble aroma to it

The spine had no wrinkles

None of the pages were damaged 

by the storm that was my tears 

The crisp, brand new, untouched, unloved, paper and ink

The type of book that is used in advertisements

Is not the type of book I would like to have when I am done reading it

In the name of aesthetic,

It is the type of book that I am expected to have

But then, have I really read it?