the library
one son was sitting in the kitchen
the other was in the living room
their mother was upstairs
we were fairly efficient
packing the boxes quickly
and with little noise
it was an amazing library
of classics titles
some in latin
others in greek
there were texts in spanish
french, german and italian
he had truly been a renaissance man
when we started to carry
the boxes out of the house
it occurred to me
that we were carrying his history
a life that had been devoted
to literature and understanding
we had him in the boxes
as surely as if we were carrying his coffin
in the privacy of the dead man's library
we chatted about the books
about the weather
about anything at all
but carrying the boxes outside
we were silent as pallbearers
reverent as mourners
loading the boxes into the truck
i felt the eyes of his family on our backs
their eyes
as we drove away
Copyright© michael dennis/Pulp Press Book Publishers 1988