1101 Hubbel Road

By Ella Rue

Automatic doors

Technology taunting inviting ... enticing me...

into the reading rooms....

One after another shelf after shelf

Brand new.... shiny, slick covers; almost virginal...

(sliding my hand across one... as if by osmosis the knowledge will come to me)

smooth sleek untouched unread untainted... (imagining all of the unseen images to behold)

~~Grandpa's house was different though~~

tattered, worn ripped, dog-eared Hand-me downs...

**overflowing from the shelves**

second hand, used...discarded timeworn, threadbare bindings

(loved once...)

**stacks in the corners... piled along the walls**

(carefully choosing one... running my hand across ...

almost feeling another's touch ~ those who read before me)

I would read and my mind would wander to those whose hands had previously touched

(turned these pages)

whose eyes had previously read

(thoughts unspoken)

Scaling the shelves...

Climbing into the books....

3/22/99