books peep out from the glassed-in shelves of closed almirahs
how lovingly, how longingly
for months, now, we haven’t met
the evenings we always shared, the books and I,
now flash by on the computer screen
how restless the books have become!
they sleepwalk through the nights!
how lovingly, how longingly
they gaze out upon the world
the values, the joys they always spoke of —
whose every molecule was eternal —
have vanished from the house
the relationships they told of
have all unraveled, one by one
when i turn a page, there is a sigh, a sob
sustenance
the meanings of so many words have fallen to the ground |