—Photos by Katy Brown, Davis, CA
—Poem by Michael Ceraolo, Willoughby Hills, OH
—Poem by Michael Ceraolo, Willoughby Hills, OH
THINGS FOUND IN BOOKS
1
We were attending
one of the local winterfests
when we stopped into an antique store
for a brief respite from the cold
It was a store I had seen advertised
in the programs of the plays
we went to in the theater
that was on one corner of the square
The books were in the basement,
and
I found a book I had been looking for,
Sports in Cleveland:
An Illustrated History
by John J. Grabowski,
copyright
1992 by Case Western Reserve University,
with
a price sticker,
dated 9/17/92,
for $14.95 still on the back cover
(the book
was published by Indiana University Press;
why didn't Case or another local university
publish the book?)
It was signed by the author,
dated April 6, 1993,
and
inscribed,
with best wishes,
to a Tony Palermo
I wonder if Mr. Palermo is still alive,
and,
if so,
what circumstances would have caused him
to have disposed of the book?
2
I don't remember what the book was,
or
even if I bought the book,
but
I definitely took the book off the shelf
at a used bookstore
and leafed through it,
and
in doing so I found a piece of paper tucked inside:
a RETURN slip,
dated
9/23/91,
time-stamped 12:24 PM,
for a pair of Nautica pants
that had cost $20.89
(tax included)
from
Hecht's in Washington, D.C.
(were the department store people
any relation to the poet of the same name?)
The receipt was signed by Jo Ann Baker
(which name
I have a vague recollection
of having seen written on the inside
of the unknown book)
I wonder about the circumstances
that led to her returning the pants:
change of heart?
they didn't fit?
a gift she didn't like?
And
I wonder about her journey,
I wonder about the book's journey,
and
I wonder about the receipt's journey as well
3
A book came in the mail,
a Christmas present from my daughter and son-in-law
who had moved to Seattle in June:
Skid Road
An Informal Portrait of Seattle
by Murray Morgan,
published by
the University of Washington Press
I don't know how many owners
the book has had in its history,
but
one previous owner wrote her name on it,
and
her name was,
appropriately enough
for the purposes of this poem,
Kathy Muse
I wonder if Ms. Muse
used the book as a textbook,
or
if she was just an enthusiastic lay reader
marking her books as one marks one's territory,
for
there are phrases and sentences underlined,
passages marked with brackets
passages set off with parentheses,
names enclosed in circles and rectangles,
exclamation points,
question marks
(sometimes the two together),
and
a wide variety of editorial comments,
including
boosterism
4
Memories of a Lifetime Volume 1
FROM THE CLEVELAND PRESS COLLECTION
edited by George Cormack,
and
autographed by him,
with Go Cleveland!
and Best Wishes,
after
the inscription To Bob,
with
the hope that he enjoy the memories
I hope that Bob did so enjoy,
even
the things that didn't stir any memories,
and
I also hope that he kept the book
for the rest of his life
5
Conrad's Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer
copyright 1910 by Harper & Brothers
Signet Classic CD 4
Introduction copyright 1950
by Albert J. Goerard
Nineteenth Printing
marked by a Janet Falko,
Senior
"67" [1967]
and
she was anything but secret in sharing
the name of the object of her affections
Ron and Ronnie are written on the back cover
sixteen different times,
in various sizes,
going
in a few different directions,
mostly
in block letters with no spaces between,
single-traced,
double-traced,
triple-traced,
and
some traced many more times than that
Twice the name is written
with conventional printing and spacing
and traced multiple times,
with
one of the two being underlined
And finally,
RONNIE + JANIE
was written on the outside of the pages
while the book was held closed
I had never before
seen the name Janet shortened (?) to Janie,
which
in any case I have always pronounced Jay-nee,
so
her having had the book in class
wasn't a total loss
_______________________
1
We were attending
one of the local winterfests
when we stopped into an antique store
for a brief respite from the cold
It was a store I had seen advertised
in the programs of the plays
we went to in the theater
that was on one corner of the square
The books were in the basement,
and
I found a book I had been looking for,
Sports in Cleveland:
An Illustrated History
by John J. Grabowski,
copyright
1992 by Case Western Reserve University,
with
a price sticker,
dated 9/17/92,
for $14.95 still on the back cover
(the book
was published by Indiana University Press;
why didn't Case or another local university
publish the book?)
It was signed by the author,
dated April 6, 1993,
and
inscribed,
with best wishes,
to a Tony Palermo
I wonder if Mr. Palermo is still alive,
and,
if so,
what circumstances would have caused him
to have disposed of the book?
2
I don't remember what the book was,
or
even if I bought the book,
but
I definitely took the book off the shelf
at a used bookstore
and leafed through it,
and
in doing so I found a piece of paper tucked inside:
a RETURN slip,
dated
9/23/91,
time-stamped 12:24 PM,
for a pair of Nautica pants
that had cost $20.89
(tax included)
from
Hecht's in Washington, D.C.
(were the department store people
any relation to the poet of the same name?)
The receipt was signed by Jo Ann Baker
(which name
I have a vague recollection
of having seen written on the inside
of the unknown book)
I wonder about the circumstances
that led to her returning the pants:
change of heart?
they didn't fit?
a gift she didn't like?
And
I wonder about her journey,
I wonder about the book's journey,
and
I wonder about the receipt's journey as well
3
A book came in the mail,
a Christmas present from my daughter and son-in-law
who had moved to Seattle in June:
Skid Road
An Informal Portrait of Seattle
by Murray Morgan,
published by
the University of Washington Press
I don't know how many owners
the book has had in its history,
but
one previous owner wrote her name on it,
and
her name was,
appropriately enough
for the purposes of this poem,
Kathy Muse
I wonder if Ms. Muse
used the book as a textbook,
or
if she was just an enthusiastic lay reader
marking her books as one marks one's territory,
for
there are phrases and sentences underlined,
passages marked with brackets
passages set off with parentheses,
names enclosed in circles and rectangles,
exclamation points,
question marks
(sometimes the two together),
and
a wide variety of editorial comments,
including
boosterism
4
Memories of a Lifetime Volume 1
FROM THE CLEVELAND PRESS COLLECTION
edited by George Cormack,
and
autographed by him,
with Go Cleveland!
and Best Wishes,
after
the inscription To Bob,
with
the hope that he enjoy the memories
I hope that Bob did so enjoy,
even
the things that didn't stir any memories,
and
I also hope that he kept the book
for the rest of his life
5
Conrad's Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer
copyright 1910 by Harper & Brothers
Signet Classic CD 4
Introduction copyright 1950
by Albert J. Goerard
Nineteenth Printing
marked by a Janet Falko,
Senior
"67" [1967]
and
she was anything but secret in sharing
the name of the object of her affections
Ron and Ronnie are written on the back cover
sixteen different times,
in various sizes,
going
in a few different directions,
mostly
in block letters with no spaces between,
single-traced,
double-traced,
triple-traced,
and
some traced many more times than that
Twice the name is written
with conventional printing and spacing
and traced multiple times,
with
one of the two being underlined
And finally,
RONNIE + JANIE
was written on the outside of the pages
while the book was held closed
I had never before
seen the name Janet shortened (?) to Janie,
which
in any case I have always pronounced Jay-nee,
so
her having had the book in class
wasn't a total loss
_______________________
Today's LittleNip:
Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.
― Mark Twain
_______________________
—Medusa
Lacock Kitchen