GOODBYE, MR. CHIPS

      (The Library Lady)

she looked at me as

she was browsing through

the pages of the book

looking for the proper spot

for the imprint to go on

and said, you know, last time

this book here went out was

October, 1998.

I could not help

feeling a bit bad for old Hilton.

a perfectly small shaped book,

its pages yellowed by years,

its cover the color of old skin.

the three of us walked down

the stairs in silence, the book,

me and Hilton,

all of us sharing the sameness

of dreams crushed under

metal wings,

colourful contemporary covers

and artificial kisses.

we had something in common

and we clung to each other

like blindfold hostages.

when I got home 

I finished the book in about two hours

and it was as good

as only simple words can be,

as if the ink itself was yelling

desperately, 

like a forgotten prisoner

that after fourteen years

in solitary confinement,

among shelves like stone walls,

was released and removed

to a cell with a window

where he could once again

taste the sun,

non judgemental.