[photo prompt for Poets United's Thursday Think Tank
by Ella Wilson of Ella's Edge]
She has carried home
an armload of library books
every week
for sixty years.
Her walls are lined
with books;
a tall stack of
Read Next's
teeter
on her dresser.
Her favorite moment of the day
is when she climbs into bed
with a groan of pleasure,
and opens the cover of
the current book.
As the soft light falls
upon the page,
upon the page,
all evening
she treks through
the Himlayas
in search of the snow leopard.
She communes with a shaman
in Africa,
her heart aching
for the White Lions,
marveling at the mystery
of their history.
She walks the Camino
with Shirley Maclean,
and looks
through the veil of a burka
in Afghanistan,
lives in a refugee camp
lives in a refugee camp
in Palestine,
is disappeared
in the jungles
of the Amazon.
She wakes
in the bitter cold
of a Siberian dawn
in the Gulag.
She sleeps
on the bare hard boards
of Auschwitz.
She expands her heart
and her humanity
by learning of
and caring about
the human
family.
Books
are portals
to the great
mystery.
Books
tell
what it was like
long ago,
and also
what it is like
to live right now.
She lives in
one big room
full of books.
When it comes
to books,
she is wealthy
beyond words.
Sherry,
ReplyDeleteThis is delighful as it encompasses just about everything that there is to say and love about the value of having books in our lives.
A home would be a poorer place, without the comfort of those words.
Best Wishes, Eileen :)
Wonderful scene painted here.
ReplyDeletePerfectly described relationship with a book, Sherry. I recommend a book called "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel, if you haven't read it. It is worth searching for, a fantastic book about adventure and spirituality. You won't be disappointed.
ReplyDeletePamela
You've described everything there is to love about books, I love how they transport you to worlds unseen and you just get lost in them
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of books, love the feel of fresh new pages that are as yet, untouched. Love the feel of old books too. You've captured here the reason why many turn to their new electronic readers but, most will always turn back to books because they love the 'feel' of them in their hands and electronic readers cannot replace that.
ReplyDeleteA lovely read. :)
The reward, the end of the day and crawling into bed with a book in hand. I could see your character, this woman, living the lives in her mind of all those she did read. Wonderful poem.
ReplyDeleteFantastic! Books are just that!! A portal to another place, another time, another dimension or another life!! They are a form of escape and they ARE beautiful. This was lovely to read!
ReplyDeleteWell Done, I love the last line wealthy beyond words...so true! I love how they do open portals for us to new worlds! Loved it~xXx
ReplyDelete