Unhappy ending

In the books store

 between Economics 

and European History,

a woman is weeping

silently 

because bookstores,

like empty churches

and doctors’ waiting rooms

are holy places

and to be respected.

Face buried in her hands

she stands, convulsed

by  grief too real

for this warm place

humming with words.

A boy in a red shirt,

tidying shelves, looks up,

walks over. She clings to him,

staining his red shirt 

with her polite tears.