January in the library offers time
to examine lacking heartbeats,
a shallow breath, with daylight
cloaked behind the pregnant clouds
burdened with persistent drizzle.
January in the library offers time
for lucid purge and ostracism,
for washing out the forgery,
the pestilence of falsehoods
behind leatherbound covers.
January in the library offers time
to ponder lines betwixt the flesh
and consciousness, to dream,
make plans, to clear one’s mind
of all the tasks that don’t need doing.
January in the library offers time
for plenty, when all he craves is sleep.
Today at dVerse Sanaa inspires us with poems about winter and what we think about it. I decided to put my words into my perpetual library
January 17, 2022
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Stunning. Well suited for any library.
Silence is maybe what I would look for most in a library.
This is such an exquisite write, Bjorn and a memorable addition to the aged librarian series! I especially resonate with; “January in the library offers time to ponder lines betwixt the flesh and consciousness, to dream, make plans, to clear one’s mind of all the tasks that don’t need doing.”
Thank you so much for writing to the prompt 💙💙
I like the reinforcement of the repeating line, which feels like the slow tick of a clock. Plenty of time indeed.
The repetition of the line “January in the library offers time” is not only like the slow, interminable ticking of the clock….but the feeling of “winter will never end” in a land where there is so little sunshine this time of year. The drizzly dark days just repeat and repeat and repeat.
I would be more than happy to spend January in the library with the aged librarian, Björn, away from the ‘pregnant clouds burdened with persistent drizzle’. Even with the ‘pestilence of falsehoods behind leatherbound covers’.
time to ponder anything would be good.
pregnant clouds burdened with persistent drizzle is a very familiar thing for me.
enjoyed this poem
With all those books to read, he’s not going to get that longed-for sleep.
Interesting contemplations on being cloistered away among the stacks.
The repeating line works well as January feels like a long month, time-wise. Libraries are like a time machine so many places to travel. The quietness offers a respite to dream.
January a time to hibernate in the folds of multiple covers.
Do i detect a little bit of Strand in your January library😊
Much❤love
Oh, this is so good, but the last two lines are so sad. It feel like an end of a year, rather than a start, when finally there is time but one is too tired to do anything. How terrible to feel that way in January! Perhaps that’s a southern hemisphere perspective, when the working year ends for a long summer break in December/Jan.
It’s only the start of year yet he’s already craving for sleep. A lot of us can relate to this.
The repetition of January somehow takes the reader to the warmth of the library… a book, a fireplace, solitude… a beautiful evocation.
‘all the tasks that don’t need doing’…love it! Thanks Bjorn.
A great introspective piece. The last line suggests that the repetition of the introspection and self-reflection has drained the poet and he just wants to sleep. Lovely idea.
Winter libraries offer a form of hibernation, out of the world and deepest into the word, its haven and sanctuary. Do you dream of libraries?
I actually don’t know if I dream of libraries, but my library is very much impacted by some of Borges writing
I enjoyed the repetition of lines. Enjoyed the library poem as well as the title. 🙂