The feel of books
Hard back or soft back?
Both please, depending on mood and accessibility.
The hardback is in it for the long haul
Something to hold onto
When all the world is falling apart
When we are falling apart
The hardback can be gripped more fiercely
than any paperback
Without it withering or bending
under the stress of our fingers
to give us the sense that
the world
or ourselves
are not spinning wildly
out
of
control
Hold onto that hardback
For as its name suggests
It is hard
It is a back
And when someone says
they have got your back
It’s good.
Ever read a book with a traumatised spine?
Once a spine goes in a book
it really doesn’t take too long for it to fall apart
a bit like people
Paperbacks bend well
Sometimes circling in on themselves
like a willow in the wind
I love a good bendy paperback
a contortionist of a paperback
Unyeilding paperbacks have their place
but give me a double jointed paperback any day.
Well used paperbacks that have been through the mill
worn and tired and weary
still have the same amount of reading in them
perhaps more so
because of what they’ve been through
You can feel their years on the earth
the emotions that have passed through them
from all those hungry eyes and minds and hearts
fingers clutching or gripping the cover
or gently holding or caressing
Books are inanimate objects
But they were my friends growing up
still are
Like pets, they give unconditional love
they do not judge
and they impart wisdom.
