His books are mirrors
and therefore in the void
between
each volume juxtaposed
the space is infinite;
he calls his library
the universe
where everything (and everyone)
but time prevail
unchanged,
while in the world outside
season follows season
and nothing but its dust
can settle on the pages
of his books.
He changes slowly
year by year and sometimes
volumes from his youth
have grown too heavy
for his back to bear;
it matters less, since the mirror maze
of words inside
is what’s constitute
his world of life forevermore.
Ernst Fuchs
Today I host dVerse OLN with two opportunities to participate live. The first one opens when the prompt opens at 3PM EST, and the second opportunity opens at 10 AM EST.
This poem is part of my series about the aged librarian and is a reflection on the metaphysical aspect of the library and what the library does to the librarian. It is also inspired by a comment I left on Reena’s Quadrille poem on mirrors this week.
“Infinity is existence between two opposing mirrors.”
May 18, 2023
Björn Rudbergs writings 
It’s a lovely line, Bjorn!
I often get ideas when commenting…
🤗
This reminds me of perhaps in the future, someone reading our poems and feeling us. The line you used to base the inspiration is indeed, marvelous and inspired pondering.
Thank you… it was something I enjoyed writing, just seeing how far a metaphor could carry.
“He changes slowly
year by year and sometimes
volumes from his youth
have grown too heavy
for his back to bear;”
I especially love this. Perhaps not your intended meaning, yet it speaks to me of how we carry books (experience, judgment), some not relevant to us anymore, and how they become too heavy. Hopefully we put them up on the shelf, never forgetting, but releasing some of that weight from ourselves.
Love it, Björn.
I think we need those memories but still maybe shelf them instead of them being a burden…
This is exquisitely drawn, Bjorn! I love the idea of a library as a universe where “everything (and everyone)
but time prevail unchanged.”💙💙
I think of the world as a library… and using mirrors is exactly the way I like to expand it beyond physical boundaries.
“in the world outside
… nothing but its dust
can settle on the pages”
profound
The library is an infinite cavity.
I really like this one, and how it seems everything is held within the library–his universe, infinite, but also contained. Those volumes of his youth growing heavy, but slowly, so that it has taken him some time to realize that he has aged.
I love this line:
he calls his library
the universe
where everything (and everyone)
but time prevail
unchanged…
Very well written, Bjorn. I enjoyed hearing your read today!
It’s solitary business, these books which mirror a life — and yet how much, how long, how far they go. (Forevermore.)
“he calls his library
the universe”
Luv the juxtaposition of his library infinite and universe. Enjoyed hearing your piem read.
Much💖love
As a child, I absolutely loved going to the library. When I had kids it was a little different because I always bought books for my kids. When they got a bit older the library we had in our town was not very kid friendly. The children’s section was in the basement and my kids never really wanted to go.
I always enjoy an aged librarian poem, Björn! I love the idea of books as mirrors and the library as the universe. I also love the reference to time in the lines:
‘while in the world outside
season follows season
and nothing but its dust
can settle on the pages
of his books’.
I too linked up a poem about time, which I will read later this afternoon (it’s Saturday already!).
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Happy to be reading another aged librarian poem from you. This is an intriguing idea, the universe as a library—the librarian’s universal library and the universal library that contains us all. I like the way it changes my thinking of time. This poem also made me reflect on the many books I have read written by people I will never meet.
Great poem.