Begin by respecting the logic
that governed earlier conjunctions —

respect the hauteur
of the book not journeyed,

the complicit camouflage
of the borrowed paperback,

the frowning grandeur of the Russian classics,
upper shelf, upper caste,
lost in the austerities of a glacial tapas,

the sly tight-lipped smile
of the coffee-table volume,
lusciously swathed,
venerable geisha,

and the amber geniality
of the leatherbound coterie,
still fragrant with the smoke
of old cheroots
from colonial living rooms.