Dust settles in his hair,
on his skin; grey it far beyond
his years;
but he carries it with pride,
since every speck is born
from books,
from parchment, paper, ink
it rest in every corner,
every nook
and when he walks the halls,
unresting dust while humming
sibilances lost
from the decaying manuscripts
now settling silently
as library lint,
adding to the ghost words
dirt forever,
haunting
and aging the librarian.
Today it is OLN Live at dVerse and San and I had to write a bit of a poem about my library and the poor librarian.
October 12, 2023
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Oooh….libra ry lint!
I especially love this section:
“humming
sibilances lost
from the decaying manuscripts
now settling silently”
It is a sad day when words fade to dust.
Love all of this poem but especially
“sibilances lost
from the decaying manuscripts
now settling silently
as library lint,
adding to the ghost words”
This is gorgeously rendered, Bjorn! I love the Aged Liberian series, so it was a delight to hear you read this today 😀
Yes, enjoyed hearing you read, as always. Especially love these lines:
“but he carries it with pride,
since every speck is born
from books,
from parchment, paper, ink
it rest in every corner,”
Ah to be surrounded by books at your job… sounds like dust is a big part of the job, though.
The title is so great, and your visual descriptions really brought that title to life.
l love your Librarian poems. Looks like book turn to dust just like us!
Enjoyed this Bjorn!
A dusty poem, and vivid too. Nearly made me sneeze…JIM
Can’t wait to see you publish all your Librarian poems together BJÖRN…
I love it
It was good to hear you read at our OLN
Much 💛love
Yet another great Librar(y)ian piece. Sorry I couldn’t be there to witness.
Ahh, such is the life of a librarian, living life among so many books–there are worse ways to age!
Dust that he carries with pride, our aging librarian! What a poetic treasure you’ve given us in him, Björn. He’s a little melancholy today, but indefatigable.
That dust falling so gently like whispy snow
My favourite librarian and library lint have made my Saturday, Björn! I love that every speck of the aged librarian;s grey is ‘born / from books, / from parchment, paper, ink’ and that he ‘walks the halls, / unresting dust while humming / sibilances lost’.
I love the nod to library lint! There’s a hint of the macabre in this piece. I can imagine this poem appearing at the beginning of a horror story. I would love to read the series of your librarian poetic saga. I bet it tells a great story.
I like the idea of library lint. Thanks for adding to this librarian series. It is always fun to read.
That library looks amazing!
Ahhhh. The ancient librarian visited once more.
A haunting addition to the librarian series. I loved hearing you read this one!
I could not comment on yours… the link was inccorrect but I loved what you read.
You’re welcome and thank you. It was the soup poem from my prompt, so I think you had already commented. 🙂