Sunday, June 9, 2024

On the Road

On the Road 
beautiful Penguin edition
photo of Jack, and Neal
looking out over the library...
(learning commons)
up high yes
just like a fire watch tower
on Desolation Peak

below
students sit
staring into chromebooks
and the occasional Manga

the Kerouac paperback
sits unstamped since 2007
yellowing under 
fluorescent lights

4 comments:

  1. So sad, everyone plugged into screens, such a different experience from turning the pages of a book. I love this, Ollie......especially "just like a fire tower on Desolation Peak." Here we have Desolation Sound, a scattering of small islands, where the orcas live.

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  2. I still remember getting library books stamped. Now we can go online, check out and read the e-book versions from the library. I confess I have yet to read my copy of On the Road which my daughter got me because she knows I love Beat poetry!

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  3. I agree with Sherry. Screens have almost replaced that love for a physical book. With the mention of Kerouac's On the Road you've brought home to us a magical time. But "yellowing under /
    fluorescent lights" is definitely sad.

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  4. I understand, Ollie. So sad that people don't enjoy books as they used to. Once screens entered people's lives, so much changed! I always enjoyed looking at the stamps in library books. Not quite the same nowadays when there are digital checkouts!

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Thanks for helping with the development of Olsonomics.