This Indie Bookstore's "Poetry Gumball Machine" Has A Feminist Twist

A bookstore in Brooklyn has just announced the loveliest new instalment: a poetry gumball machine where all the proceeds go to Planned Parenthood. The bookstore in question is Books Are Magic, a gorgeous independent bookstore in Cobble Hill owned by Modern Lovers author Emma Straub. Their poetry gumball machine is characteristically creative; the poems themselves have been water-colored by hand, and can be bought for a quarter. If you're lucky, you might even get one of the special coupons that have been sprinkled throughout the vending machine as well!

Books Are Magic have long been inspiring visitors to their store with their cute hand-drawn blackboard, on which they write lists such as "Fierce Women in Fiction" and "Fave Siblings in Literature." It's clear that everyone who works at the bookstore has a passion for words so strong it's infectious — and this poetry gumball machine is sure to generate a whole new community of poetry-lovers in Brooklyn.

On Instagram, Books Are Magic posted a picture of their first customer's poem, which was the sweet and quirky 'This Is Just To Say' by William Carlos Williams. If you're anywhere near Brooklyn, you're going to want to run over to Books Are Magic right this minute and see what surprise poem you end up with — while donating to Planned Parenthood at the same time!

Unique independent bookstores like Books Are Magic keep the magic of literature well and truly alive, and creative ideas like this show why these bookstores remain so beloved. I hope that Books Are Magic keep updating us so we can see some of the other poems pulled from their colorful gumball machine!