the library

a building that i have passed so many times
on the street corner

another world

we walk up the marble steps into a lobby
on the right we explore caligraphy in the exhibit room
i recognize a variety of quotations

wiesel
van gogh
the psalms
the mishnah
an artists own words

we walk up the winding staircase
its hard wooden railing the bearer of many hands
of intellects
fellows
of many cultures
worldviews
religions

the old and the young filling their heads with knowledge of a thousand books
reducing
analyzing
discussing
creating truth

we enter the world of academia
the cartography room
the reading room
a conference room with dark green padded folding chairs
a long, deep, heavy oak conference table
the walls surrounding display oil paintings of important scholars
green reading lamps
the smells of dust
books left on the shelf

the smells of aged, seeking, deep, elite