Unseen Treasures

Opening the pages
of some parchment
that time forgot,
that dust embraced,
and sunlight faded,
I find an old bit of knowledge
that sparks a new connection.
Suddenly I stop
and wonder just what hands
have felt
just what eyes
have seen
this bump and that.
How many times has
this letter spoken
and this word
brought joy
to bleak
and bothersome days

Turning past the tan
and brittle pages
of an ancient friend,
I cannot fathom its journey
and never will I find
an eager teacher so full
of thought
and
so ripe with age
and
so ready to speak.

To an extent I only dreamed,
only thought I knew it well.
spells and incantations,
superstitions and momentum
to bring me safely round
through shadowy alleys of life
and other unforgiving places
that winds and tides
will surely take me.

Reluctantly, I close the door
and wave farewell
to bold new fascination,
dreams of foreign objects
and myths
that melt through time.
My eyelids fall
and in a moment
I am in a new frontier
of dragons, beasts,
and stormy seas.

And there I stay til morning light