Library Book

the book cover is yellowed
after years in the bookcase, in
briefcases, on windowsills,
slightly peeling tape securing
the Dewey decimal number
914.4C describing Travel,
in France, the pages bent at
the corners, slightly soiled from
hundreds of eager fingers, some
moistened to better grip the pages,
which capture their next
adventure in the smell, the
knowledge of this old soiled
library book, which reveals stories
a new book, in its inexperience,
could never tell.