The package is placed
on government-approved scales,
wrapped and addressed, when
comes the inevitable question:

"Are there any hazardous
or inflammatory items
contained herein?"

I hesitate to answer
because,
after all,
hidden behind enveloped paper
are

books.

Is Bukowski as dangerous
as Bakunin was?
If I send Vonnegut
or Solzhenitzyn,
am I guilty
of shipping sedition?

Transmitting thoughts
across state lines
could prove dangerous indeed,
especially since ideas
usually prove to be the real

Enemies of the State.