She has carried home
an armload of library books
every week for seventy years.
Her walls are lined with books;
a tall stack of Read Next's
teeters on her dresser.
Through the day, she looks forward to
climbing into bed at night,
and opening the cover
of her current book.
climbing into bed at night,
and opening the cover
of her current book.
As the soft light falls upon the page,
all evening she treks through
the Himalayas 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 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 small rooms
full of books
and feels herself
wealthy beyond words.
and feels herself
wealthy beyond words.
for Sumana's prompt Books/Reading at https://newwhatsgoingon.blogspot.com/
I had to let a lot of books go as I downsized, but still have a solid collection of favourites.
I can most definitely relate. I'm in need of another bookshelf - the piles are getting out of hand.
ReplyDelete"Books are portals
ReplyDeleteto the great mystery."
Amen. Your catalogue of books/travels is impressive. Great poem!
"She lives in small rooms
ReplyDeletefull of books
and feels herself
wealthy beyond words."....Only a similar soul can feel this Sherry. You have a rich collection in spite of downsizing. Just read a post on X :
One thing
that I’ve learnt
as I’ve got older
is that literature
lights up love
and makes it smoulder
for beauty
is in the eye
of the book holder. Smiles.
"She" really has had wonderful experiences with her book. Her books have taken her places she would never have had the opportunity to go. She is indeed "wealthy" with wonderful experiences! Smiles.
ReplyDeleteYour poem is so relatable, Sherry. I too have had to let some books go, especially the ones from my classroom library at school, which I paid for out of my own pocket. I’m only keeping the ones that Lucas and Louie would enjoy, but I’m reading them all again first! It will be library books in the future. I also look forward to climbing into bed at night, and opening the cover of my current book, although I tend to read three or four books during the day, with only one for night time! Books are indeed portals.
ReplyDeleteWonderful Sherry - books are indeed a treasure..a window into other worlds..I love the photo too - Jae
ReplyDeleteBooks definitely transport us anywhere we care to, don't they? They are teachers, entertainers, comfort-givers and friends.
ReplyDeleteI love this! You captured the essence of the magic and richness of being transported in a way that is so exquisitely you!
ReplyDeleteYour love of books is beautifully described in your poem... Good one !...Rall
ReplyDeleteNow that's a room I'd love to hang out in! Oh, the places we can go if we but pick up a book. Great post Sherry! I need to revisit What's Going On.
ReplyDelete"Books are portals to the great mystery" - love this line and it sums up your poems so well. Nicely done.
ReplyDelete"She expands her heart/
ReplyDeleteand her humanity" -- One of the great gifts of books is they do just that. I love every word of this, Sherry, as you open up for us how the world looks and feels through someone else's eyes, words.
It is a thrill riding the pulp and ink. Love books. Ahead of movies, but just behind writing. But the journeys and adventures you share her attest to thr rich reward you find, secreted in the pages of discovery.
ReplyDelete