A shadowy shop with
Shelves that bend and buckle
Under the weight of years.

The dust of the decade
Lies undisturbed.

Volumes lined in motley ranks,
Anthologies, albums and almanacks
Heaped in
Precarious stacks.
A few flaking pamphlets.

Dream-like sepia images,
Dog-eared and damp,
Bulge from mildewed
Musty manilla.

Some are excited by
The acrid smell
Of old books.

Not sure that I am.

A bargain box or a treasure chest?
Who cares!

Festered and forgotten
Between the yellowing pages of
A railway timetable
Lie someone's drawings.

Quite clever.
A little deranged, if you ask me.
Nice colours,

But you wouldn't want them on your wall.

02/27/2010

Author's Note: "Eight etchings by William Blake have been acquired for the nation after the Tate Gallery raised £441,000.The etchings, depicting the artist and writer's bleak visions, were discovered inside a train timetable at a secondhand book sale." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8451803.stm)

Posted on 02/27/2010
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