The Rock Book

J.P. Sloop

For years in a personal
library in Pittsburg Kansas,
Sylvan Brunner,
Attorney at Law
kept you clean and preserved.

And miles away,
maybe at the same time
Mr. Brunner was keeping
you on the shelf,
my dad, checked you out
every two weeks for a year
from the Yadkinville High Library
cementing his geological desires.

Again and again dad
read your pages
absorbing words and images.
He had always wanted
to study geology and you
proved it with your glossy
photos and diagramed
explanations of complex processes.

Many years later as dad
sat on my couch, after finding you
in a used book store. I smelt
your pages, read your words,
absorbed your images and
for a minute
I saw my dad
young and impressionable.