April 10 Poem: On My Bookcase

April 10 Just looking around my house, this is what I saw. I like my Kindle, and I know that e-publishing is the wave of the future and the future is here, but I still love the heft of a book and I still have a nice library. I also have discovered the library in Kalispell, which connects to almost every library in Montana and can get me almost any book I might need. This is a writer’s heaven, both inside my house and out! Pinch me, I must be dreaming! //ON MY BOOKCASE //Stephen King rests on my shelves, //his battered brain quiet now //but just for now (always now) //in temporary dead zone respite //until the next idea hits like a // freight train //barreling out of control. //And near him Michael Crichton //ponders global warming readouts //and dinosaur DNA //along uncertain timelines soon forgotten. //The lost boys home from Neverland, //Dirk Gently battling American gods, //and in this corner floats //the island at the centre of the world //awaiting the peg legged Dutchman //along the great walled street. //Captain Kidd and Santa Claus //rest near Carl Sagan’s Cosmos //amid dragons, to the code breaker’s delight. //Van Gogh’s early portraits //captured in a tabletop //barely fit the lowest shelf //and my own books hide thinly //in plain sight. Eclectic, I am, //a hodgepodge of plots and twists //and true tall tales //and captured interests, enlightened, //taught, //and entertained.