New and Used

by Jonathan Vance

When I peeled away the plastic,
The cover was smooth and clean.
The pages were crisp, like an apple,
And the gilded edges gleamed.
The binding crackled as
I opened the pages;
The first breath of a babe,
Waking up from the ages.
The magnificent tome was unblemished.
And wouldn’t be useful till tarnished.
Years later,
The cover was battered,
And within it,
The pages were tattered.
Any one leaf
Would meet your gaze
With a flood of colors
Like the map to a maze.
Each little nugget
I’d found in my quest,
Had been marked and noted,
Then put to the test.
This book had a price, years ago.
Its value now? You cannot know.


A. Jonathan Vance, “New and Used,” New Era, Aug. 1996, 24