He lists his collectibles

in alphabetical order

with the number he owns of each

            Apothecary jars…9

            Fairbury water pump…2

            Robert Browning poetry book…1

            Rock Island Depot lanterns…6

He also lists the running total value

In the right corner of every page.

At $600,000 I wasn't halfway

through the ledger.

"Is there anything you want?" He asks,

but I can no longer pretend

I am still interested

in these items acquired over a lifetime.

I want to tell him to stop trying to hurry death,

stop waiting for it like a bleak, scheduled appointment

in his leather bound book.

His tact so precise, but as if he is working

on an ordinary chore.

How do I tell him, this 78 year old man,

sitting across from me, arms folded,

that I want the Robert Browning poetry book

because his mom used to read to him,

every night, the last thing he did

before bed.