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When Poets Rummage

Even in the middle of an Australian summer, grey days present. In door days. Days perfect for rummaging and exploring. Days made for book looks...

And so this poem has arisen from searching through the books contained in my personal library. I found ephemera secreted by various readers, myself included. Such is the randomness of discovery. Go in search of treasure fellow poets. See what it sparks...



Things Found Hiding In Books

what motivates the hiding of ephemera

among the words composed by others?

the secreting of flimsy slips of memory laden paper

between the pages of books.

solemn offerings 

in some randomly chosen volume of poetry

-a recipe book, 

-a mystery story…

these pages capable of cocooning a secret.

pages, 

entrusted

to hold selected offerings.

these guardians patiently awaiting

some future reader

to come calling,

rummaging perhaps.

the book plays custodian

across an indefinite timespan,

before fortuitously revealing

once more to the light

a long held treasure,

a memory marker,

some oddment of information

emerges.

a moment arrives

when origins are  pondered

and the indeterminate worth

of some excavated snippet 

is earnestly scrutinized

and ephemeral fragments shine once more.

©Alan j Wright





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Comments

  1. Janice Scully16 January 2021 at 02:51

    Thank you for this, Alan. I often put a clip of something in a book so that it is held somewhere and not be thrown in the trash, as I don't know what final disposition it deserves. Many are of "indeterminate worth," like untried recipes or poems still unread.

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    1. Alan j Wright16 January 2021 at 09:34

      As you indicate, these practices of concealing items within books is quite common, Janice. It's a gift to the future. Thank you for your response.

      Delete
  2. Linda B16 January 2021 at 09:53

    You may or may not know I work at an all-volunteer-run bookstore, a non-profit. We keep a scrapbook of things found in the books that are donated! I love your poem, Alan, and do find a few things in my older books, love the scraps from newspapers that family from long ago have tucked inside. I will print out your poem and display it at the store where everyone will enjoy it! Love "cocooning a secret" - so true!

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    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright16 January 2021 at 11:42

      I love the scrapbook of ephemera Linda. Such wonderful preservation of history. I feel honoured my poem will be presented for others to read all that way from its origins. Thank you.

      Delete
  3. Linda Mitchell16 January 2021 at 23:35

    This poem makes me smile with the truth of it. So many notes and flimsy slips of paper I tuck into books. It really is quite a phenomenon that books not only holds the words of their story or purpose but the additional connections of readers. GREAT poem. Thanks for this one!

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    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright17 January 2021 at 12:23

      Smiling is a good response Linda, possibly at the connection it hopefully delivers. This common practice, this shared experience. Thank you for your kind remarks.

      Delete
  4. Fran Haley16 January 2021 at 23:37

    Alan: first, I love the word "ephemera" itself and how it symbolizes the temporariness of things. Wrote a short story around it awhile back. "The book plays custodian across an indefinite timespan" - I love many of your lines but this may be my favorite; it is so true, and so compelling. Ephemera in books is almost like a bit of a time machine. Definitely a kind of time capsule. My husband and I have inherited books from grandparents and we keep their ephemera in place - kind of an homage even as we wonder.

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    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright17 January 2021 at 12:27

      I like your analogy of a time machine or time capsule Fran. It is certainly feels like that. When we encounter such ephemera from books owned by others, it is the pondering of its possible origins that delivers a tantalizing delight. Thank you for your response.

      Delete
  5. Mary Lee17 January 2021 at 00:10

    I just gave a colleague a bunch of books from my shelf of math professional books. Some come to her with sticky notes marking pages I thought were important, others with marginal notes, and who knows what ephemera she might find tucked in the pages. Fun to think about giving her not just the books, but also little bits of me!

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    1. Alan j Wright17 January 2021 at 12:30

      I like the idea of giving a little of ourselves in the books we pass on to others Mary Lee. It's a hidden bonus I guess. Let's continue to secrete surprises in our treasured texts.

      Delete
  6. Irene Latham17 January 2021 at 01:39

    Alan, thank you for highlighting the joy of what we find in used books... I, too, love these discoveries, and love imagining the lives of the ones who've read the book before me... how we are connected by the experience of reading across time and leave bits of our life to prove it. Thank you!

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    1. Alan j Wright17 January 2021 at 12:33

      Imagining is a great gift Irene. The notion of bits of life left behind for others to stumble across is a most worthy action for each of us to maintain as a habit.

      Delete
  7. Kay17 January 2021 at 03:03

    The best discoveries are those left by others (such as the ones I find when I buy a book from a used bookstore). It leads to alll kinds of wonderings about who left it and why. When I leave such things between the pages, it's usually because I was looking for something to mark my place. All sorts of things have ended up as bookmarks and sometimes get left behind.

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    Replies
    1. Alan j Wright17 January 2021 at 12:36

      Used books have revealed much hidden treasure across the years Kay. may it continue to astound and amaze we book seekers. You are also right in your recollection of place markers morphing into permanent page residents. Love it.

      Delete
  8. Ruth17 January 2021 at 23:54

    Nice! You should check out the Forgotten Bookmarks blog.

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  9. Margaret Simon18 January 2021 at 09:43

    I love thinking of the book as custodian to the things left behind.

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