you who carry the world in your palmthe weighty equivalence of Alexandria’s wisdominside a slender electronic casemay never know
how we who trespassed among the isles
where one winked wickedlyanother flashed a sumptuous jacketyet another drunkenly sidewaysstared us downamused
fell formost often a quickiean all-nightersometimeswere rendered captivefor a lifetimeby a spinecracking openwaving leaves in breezeslike the anemonein deep-sea raptures
that onea potter because a Japanesebook of cookery’s aestheticoddment of finery for food displayconsumed himthat othermounting the ladderof terza rimathrough hellhigh waterto Paradise
Image: Flickr, “The Country House Library” by username: THOR (geishaboy500), under the Attribution 2.0 Generic license.