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The Perfume of Paper
In his day he had been a mighty sorcerer; wielding storms, birds and even elephants, on one occasion. Gray of beard, but still keen of eye, he set about his task, and it was hard. The library was a tome of sheer delight. Books from far afield populated its shelves. Books on magic, medicine and philosophy. Books and books.
But the time had come, the world had changed in the window of his eye. The world had shrunk and reduced. Instead of people needing ships or even hot air balloons to traverse the continents, they could simply click a button on a computer screen and be THERE. Naturally, this was wondrous.
Despite this innovation, of course, the tribunal had to meet, and he had to lead, find solutions, offer compensation and predict the future - all of which he had been known to do (in the past), with aplomb.
It was the books!
What was he going to do about the books? How could he live in a world that no longer needed paper editions? How could they?
Great magicians, mages of history had fought magnificent battles...they had won, they had lost...but the world carried forth. This challenge, however, was a quandary, a true measure of humanity.
The books.
The proposals were simple: reduce the paper to digital copy. The idea - nothing would be lost. Nothing…
Nothing.
“Wherefore art thou my Romeo”: reduced?
He picked up a copy of Waiting for Godot, and tears streamed, THEY STREAMED.
Heroes and villains swarmed across the pages in his mind, great warriors and knights fought beside Arthur and the Knights of the Templar, but still…
There was no room.
The tribunal’s findings: THERE WAS NO ROOM.
Fine, this smooth and luscious paper
So very fine.
Your aroma will carry me across
the deserts of my mind.
How will the world look?
How will it shine?
There’s no timber
No more shelves
In this library
of mine.
In the past week I have read several blog posts that made me cry. I have become acquainted with incredible strength. A purpose, resolute, that I admire, so very much. BUT IT HAS MADE ME CRY. How hard do you think it would be to pack up a life and move it from one place to another. A good move, but still...
I think it’s better not to mention who has changed my perspective about “THINGS”, but still...
My heat squeezes, my tears fall..
For my Shout Out for DreemPort Staff, I'm cheering for tEEm @samsmith1971