Bookshelves

Every home I have ever seen

Has had a lovely empty corner

Where I imagine the space fully

Lined with books on a shelf.

All rooms can become a study.

Bookshelves provide a way to order

Values we have acquired and received

Over our lives. Sometimes books arrive

In batches. I have kept books

My grandfather read. His revered books

Were next to his study table

Along a shelf to his right.

They were always easy to find—

At eye level and within reach.

They are close to me now.

I have my own selection stored

And I know it was influenced

By his books that I read.

I clearly see their location together

On the bookshelf as a reminder

To add to my own curated

Collection while I have the inclination

And the ability to occasionally ponder

Some of the world’s perennial problems.