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Tim Edwards: ‘In the School Library’

Tim Edwards

Nov 30 2021

1 mins

In the School Library

Hands are rarely in open prayer,
Cradling the spines of other worlds,
Instead talk is the common currency,
And contemplation a small coin.

Weaned on colour and motion,
Here is a different dexterity,
Where fingers pad the slickness of plastic,
And hands power the mice of information.
Hooked on this noisy business,
Few will seek out those quiet avenues,
Where a thin light still continues to slant,
Through diminishing book shelves,
Shaping shadows in Dewey order.

As one class leaves and another arrives,
One might be tempted to declare:
The money-traders are well and truly
Running the temple.

Tim Edwards

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