Bundles of books (26th March 2020)
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.” – C.S. Lewis
Welcome to the new weird heartbreaking world we have found ourselves in
a huge frightening twist in the tale
the internet is noisy with so much to do to keep our minds off it all...
virtual museums, a thousand art classes, ballet - learn it and watch it, master a language, work out till you drop, watch all the movies, do twenty kinds of yoga, virtual meditation, on line everything …
I am glad…. we will no doubt need some of this to get us through…
I am also overwhelmed with it and its just not me!
so I have taken to just doing things that have always got me through…
I have noticed one of those things over the last few days …
noticed something I have always done
it has only just struck me as deeply weird
and beautifully comforting
I have a confession
I carry bundles of books with me everywhere …
today I have moved the bundle of four books ..
starting at 6.30am,
carrying them down the stairs, into the kitchen,
balanced them
as I carried my boiling hot cuppa to the back door,
struggled with the lock that always sticks,
into the yard and barefoot
through into garden,
rested my tea on them
as I watched the sun flood the trees with light,
then I carried them in again
upstairs to the little room
where I opened at least two of them
and pulled out some magic words
smiled at a sentence or two
got lost in another country, another world,
later I would carry the bundle downstairs
to the sofa to watch a glimpse of the news
then quickly retreat into the kitchen
chased by a bumble bee
saved just in time before I slid down the sofa
but in the kitchen there was freshly baked
Banana Cake …so I stole some
and used the bundle of books as a tray
to carry my sneaky treasure
out into the sun once more
and so it went on
all day
here and there,
back and forth,
up the stairs and back down,
I noticed myself and smiled
this is why my bags are always so heavy …
sandra says
what the hell have you got in there
and I laugh
knowing the answer is
at least three or four books
I have done it since I was little
carried bundles of books
into school,
through my teenage years
university,
then out into the world,
behind the reception desk in my first job,
onto aeroplanes,
in hospitals,
in work,
in play,
brought them with me on dates,
to interviews,
taken them out to lunch …
and always to bed
these bundles of books
I carry through my days
like comforting old friends
or juicy new adventures
… and here they are with me
carrying the bundles of books
their pages like magic carpets
like mini universes
spinning under my arms
flapping about like wild crows
wanting like us to be free
beckoning me inwards
offering a different story
helping me carry myself
through this massive twist in our tale …
Originally published 26th March 2020
