Treat every book with care,
between its pages rests:
a universe
a sacred crypt
a piece of you and everyone
a place to meet or be alone.
Enter every book with awe,
remember how
you used to bring to bed a flashlight
with your book.
Fear books that makes it hard to sleep,
filled with nightmares and excitements,
but fear even more
the boring books
that turn your brain to tapioca.
Bring books as company,
as friends and foes,
confide, confront your books
but don’t forget to put them down
and talk to the people that you meet.
Be book yourself, and fill your days
with sense, with syllables and sentences
with pages, paragraphs, be bold
and live (or dream),
your own adventures.
And when you cease to breathe
know well
that every book can not be read.
Man, Sitting, Reading a Book by Vincent van Gogh
Mish hosts dVerse today and wants to write a poem on good advice. I thought it would be a good moment to listen to what the aged librarian might say. Join us when the bar opens at 3 PM EST.
Also linking up to the Open Platform at toads.
Björn Rudbergs writings 
I have missed the voice of the aged librarian
Am waiting for the aged librarian book, Bjorn!!
Thank you Librarian – Nice to be reminded about books in all their dimensions: “remember how
you used to bring to bed a flashlight
with your book.”
Yes and could not wait to get to bed to read – now I listen to books in bed and give my ageing eyes a rest
*cries* You had to remind me of one of my most awful realizations made in my 30’s – I will never, ever read everything I want to read. *cries again* Time is too short to read anything that turns you brain to tapioca. I will take that reminder to heart.
As a giant bookworm, I have mad love for this piece.
Yay! The aged librarian returns and with such good advice. Thanks, Bjorn.
Very lovely advice. Loved the many facets and personifies of books.
I love books, even books I haven’t read, I love to feel them, hold them, smell them…but best of all is to read them….
I wish every book could be read before the final breath. Nevertheless, good advice from the librarian.
The aged librarian has such good advice. Books have been my companions the whole way. I am so thankful for that.
This series is wonderful, Bjorn. And this poem is one of the best..
Books are like sacred crypts.
Love this series ~ I will resist with books turning my brain into tapioca. This part is full of wisdom :
Be book yourself, and fill your days
with sense, with syllables and sentences
with pages, paragraphs, be bold
and live (or dream),
your own adventures.
I especially love the two last stanzas – for surely, Be Book – well, yes, isn’t this exactly it? Write your own damn script – and remember, to look people in the eye? For surely, all stories are written there, between the spines and flesh, yet, we can never truly know the whole story, of the book, or of another.
Wonderful reading and advice from the aged Librarian.
Libraries are a treasury finer than gold. I love this part, ” universe
a sacred crypt a piece of you and everyone”, so descriptive!
Wonderful advice!
Another fine poem in the epic saga (much like my own) of the aged Librarian. Nice feel to this one. I would take things further and say,
“Be your own Movie”; grin.
I like your “Aged Librarian” series. It’s good to hear
of him again. Books can be precious friends.
So many books and so little time… Books as friend or foe…
Great poem Bjorn.
Dwight
Books, jewels for the common man!
Hello, I nominated you for the Three Days, Three quotes challenge. I hope you’ll join in and have fun with it. To check out what it’s about follow this link: https://keldayheart.wordpress.com/2018/06/12/three-day-three-quote-challenge-day-two/
Be the book! Read between the lines. I love the imagery of books as friends, foes and confidantes. Your aged librarian series fills my head with pages of your wisdom and bookshelves full of your beautiful words. Every line describing how our lives intertwine with the life force of books, is sublime!
This is a highly enjoyable read. A wise librarian lives in the pages of your blog.
Sad reality that we can’t read every book that we’d like to read. The librarian has some good advice.
kaykuala
but don’t forget to put them down
and talk to the people that you meet.
One cannot possibly be immersed in its pages to turn a blind eye to the world. Life has its balancing to survive in! Very true!
Hank
Nice to meet the aged librarian once more with such gems.
Hooray! The aged librarian is back! And I’m off to the library in the next few hours for Bounce and Rhyme. Very good advice, Bjorn!
I love this about books. I think we each are a unique story also.
Reblogged this on Reena Saxena.
HA! I love your admonition to fear books that turn your brain into tapioca. 🙂 Humor aside, I love your tribute to the power of the written word.
I am blessed to work at a library. Love this Bjorn!
This is wonderful. I like the variety of advice from one source, you left nothing out, and the progression of the poem leading to the analogy of ourselves and books….brilliant!
I liked this very much. like preserving a slowly dying way of life, reading, books and libraries, hope it never becomes obsolete.
Oh I’ve missed the aged librarian. Such sage advice he gives here. My mother always said “If you enjoy reading, you’ll always have a friend and you’ll never be bored.” I smiled at the tapioca reference😊
Excellent. So true.
I’m sending this to my friend who’s a librarian – I think your work should hang in the lobby of all libraries as a reminder.
I particularly enjoyed the lines, ‘but fear even more/the boring books/that turn your brain to tapioca.’
Thank you… I do write a lot about libraries at the moment… 🙂
Beautiful advice from the aged librarian. I look forward to reading more, Bjorn.