the ache the promise and the longing

out of print books puff dust
when their spines are cracked

inhale ancient dreams from Demosthenes, Socrates
exhale Maxwell, Edison and Madame Curie
I love that song
I love this dream

out of print books
surviving on old stories
smallpox and straight whiskey
world wars, carthage and bourbon skies
bedrock philo-frothing greeks
on genuine corinthian columns
stained by tears and mildew
handmade fonts bop on vellum
spines erect
embossed by long gone monks
ensconced in stone towers

matters of fact
no longer mattering
recipes for poultices
how to collect the "right kind" of leeches
how to get from here
to the headwaters of Saint Germain
and Alsace-Lorraine

secret back roads
through the wild blooming desert
vapors of this high lonesome valley
the ache and the promise and the longing oh

inky illuminations indelible
proto-helvetica tangos
crashing footloose
on parchment pages

jester's dirges
jugglers' laments
king's last breath
queen's first craving
passions too raw
too barnacled
too crusty
for books in print

by the boy poets, crackin' spines