reflection of used books
cast onto a stone wall --
petrified paper
We are sitting around an old round oak table by the front window of Revelations, a used bookstore and restaurant just north of the town square. The combination of inexpensive reading material and good food makes it a popular hangout. Right now the place is packed with Christmas shoppers and people socializing during the holidays. I'm doing both, still on the lookout for a few last-minute gifts among the packed book shelves while having lunch with friends.
The walls are lined with used books waiting to be adopted. You can almost hear them begging, "Take me!" Popular, timeless volumes pass through many hands, whereas outdated technical editions sit forlornly gathering no more attention than the penetrating aroma of wood fired pizza.
But who still reads printed books? We are, perhaps, the last generation. One of my sons, who does still read paper books but spends a lot of time on planes, told me, "If you're going to get me a book, make it a Kindle version."
There are no ebooks at Revelations. Nothing's virtual here, except perhaps the eerie reflection of paper books projected by the soft light of a lamp through plate glass onto the stone wall of the entrance. Ghost books hovering just outside a bookstore, very close to being something without actually being it. Petrified fossils from an ancient age. People coming and going pass quickly through the virtual images without absorbing a single word.
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