4 precious friends

my fingers trace along their spines
caressingly drawing in their essence
a soothing calm washes over me
melting away the world
that surrounds and suffocates me
i find solace
in their creased bindings
in their sun faded edges
in the texture of their pages
in the worlds they open up to me

i step away with fear and sadness
for this beautiful place of sanctuary
is dissolving before my eyes
being replaced with a cold
intangible digital world of convenience
soon these shelves will be encased
in glass boxes with a sign
"look, but don't touch"
libraries will become museums
meant solely house these precious artifacts
never will they feel the touch
of warm hands
of soothing fingers
of salty tears
of sweet laughter

as much as i long to hold on to them
draw them to me and pretend
they will always be
how can i?
when i sit here
my smart phone at the ready
with its dictionary
with its rhyming app
with its twitter app
with its rss feeder

i'm far from guilt free
my fingers typing silently away
composing and sharing digitally
my ereader sitting at my right elbow
long gone are the days
of cave drawings
of hieroglyphics written on stone tablets
of ink stained scrolls
of words typed on the ancient typewriter in my parent's basement

i look at my friends just sitting there
waiting patiently for me to find the time
that eludes me in this hectic fast paced digital society
and a soothing calm washes over me
for i will not abandon them
not completely
because they hold me in the palm of their hands
invoking deep down within me
a passion for the written word
an appetite for life
a desire to slow down and escape
a longing for what could be

Photo by JackAZ

---

inspiration for this piece came from One Stop Poetry's One Shoot Sunday [interview with JackAZ Photography].  i found myself thinking about this old typewriter and its history, and somehow i went from thinking about what it was replaced with to what is starting to replace its product.  i have a fondness for books.  just being surrounded by shelves of books can sooth my tempestuous soul.  so after an unusual train of thought that started with an old typewriter, i found the above words take form.  (i didn't abandon the typewriter completely, he made a cameo appearance.)