Shelf Life
By Dewey Turner
By Emily Dickinson
Unto my books so good to turn
Far ends of tired days;
It half endears the abstinence,
And pain is missed in praise.
As flavors cheer retarded guests
With banquetings to be,
So spices stimulate the time
Till my small library.
It may be wilderness without,
Far feet of failing men,
But holiday excludes the night,
And it is bells within.
I thank these kinsmen of the shelf;
Their countenances bland
Enamour in prospective,
And satisfy, obtained.
Amy Sattherthwaite Pappas, Essayist, Painter
Ron Charles, Washington Post Book Editor (Favorite Home Bookshelf Salvaged from Christian Science Monitor in Boston. Photo by Ron Charles/The Washington Post)
Rick Pullen, Journalist, Mystery Writer
Drew Gallagher, Book Reviewer, Insurance Adjuster, Volunteer Baseball Coach, Humorist
Channon Alexandria, Writer, Teacher
Barry Waldman, Attorney
Paul Cymrot and Emily Simpson, Used Bookstore Owners, Riverby Books
A.P., Parent
P.C., Artist, Naturalist, Writer
Ana Valle-Greene, Teacher, Journalist
Anne Marie Pace, Children’s Book Author
Ptolemy I Soter, General, Historian, Librarian, Pharaoh (The Great Library of Alexandria/O. Von Corven, Wikimedia Commons)
Margaret Gallagher, High School Biology Teacher
Susan Mullane, College Administrator
Kurt Vonnegut, Author (Kurt Vonnegut Museum Banned Books Display)
Janet and Steve Watkins, Pie & Chai editors
Michelle M., “Person With ‘Concepts of a Plan’ For Reading These Books!”
Amy P., Bibliophile, Artist
***
Dewey Turner spent much of his childhood in Polk County, Florida, and has been trying to leave ever since. But like James Joyce, self-exiled from Dublin, he keeps returning in one way or another. He reports—with some consternation but no real surprise—that a great number of the kids he knew when he was a boy grew up to become Florida Man. You can contact him at [email protected].
