Baskin Cooper

Toyshop Consultation

i tell the clerk
it’s for my niece
she turns eight next week
what do kids like now?

she doesn’t hesitate: maybe
the phosphorescent lemur kit
it comes with plant-based batteries

a second employee nods
without looking up

she beams: or the modular sadness game
the one with the cardboard doorways
you assemble in circles
so the pieces don’t touch

i blink slowly
feeling the air shift

an older man at the register
says his grandchildren
prefer the gravity kaleidoscope

but warns
you mustn’t tip it sideways
and it needs an app

i leave the store empty-handed
a small bell rings behind me
like something in the world
has just been reset

Author Reading

About the Author

Baskin Cooper is a poet and artist living in Chatham County, North Carolina, where the quiet rhythms of the natural world often guide his work. His creative life spans poetry, sculpture, songwriting, screenwriting, and voice acting, reflecting an abiding interest in how stories, images, and sounds speak to our inner lives. He holds a PhD in psychology and spent formative years in Cork, Ireland, an experience that deepened his attention to folklore, silence, and the spaces where memory meets spirit. His poems have appeared in Verse-Virtual, ONE ART: A Journal of Poetry, Ink & Oak Lit, and others. His debut collection, The Space Between Branches, is currently seeking publication.