Borders Bookstore announced today that it has filed for bankruptcy and will be closing over 200 stores nationally. There is a Borders in my neighborhood that I have frequented with much regularity since it opened. I think it has been here for at least 15 years. I am sad to think about it closing, I feel guilty about occasionally buying books from Amazon, thus hastening the demise of brick and mortar bookstores. There is a lady who works at my Borders who has an encyclopedic memory for books and an emotional connection to readers. I’ve walked in before and said I need a book on a specific topic and she will lead me directly to the right section and even recommend a few titles adding her own personal critique. That type of service is not easily obtained from the internet. So, to allay my guilt and ease my sadness, I have written a poem in praise of bookstores.
A Palace of Words
A grand royal palace of all that is written,
Paved with fine aisles of glistening books,
Crowded on shelves, spine to spine touching,
They patiently wait with fetching good looks,
Awaiting word seekers to grasp their fine backs,
Lifting so gently, caressing their flaps,
Then finding soft chairs in cozy back nooks,
They fall fast asleep with books in their laps,
The smell of the ink,
The rippling pages,
The bustle of shoppers,
Wiser than sages,
They know that a bookstore is one special place,
Where books reign supreme and readers convene,
To savor the books in a space they can touch,
It has a real pulse, if you know what I mean,
You can’t be replaced, you palace of words,
You mustn’t depart, leaving shelves full of dust,
An empty grand palace would be such a loss
You simply must stay; it’s simply a must.
May bookstores somehow prevail. They have been with us in some way since the beginning of written words.
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