A Poem for Poetry Day Ireland 2023

Today has been proclaimed Poetry Day Ireland 2023, and various events are happening throughout the country. The theme is "message in a bottle".

Since I'm always trying to get in the spirit of occasions, here's a poem for that purpose. I wrote it exactly ten years ago, and published it on this blog. I think it fits the theme.

While shelving books in the philosophy section
I came across the Physics of Aristotle
Laid on its spine
Hidden behind the books on Eastern thought.

I wondered who had hidden it there
And how long ago
And why they had never come back to take it out.

I wondered if it was a he or a she who had hidden it
And decided it was a she
And that she was cute.

I wondered how she had done on the exam
And what she was doing now
And whether she ever thought about Aristotle.

And, pushing my trolley ahead,

I thought of the hoards that archaeologists find--
The hoards of coins, or of jewellery, bronze and gold,
Or of other treasures committed unto the earth
Hidden but never reclaimed, centuries later.

I thought of Egyptian mummies lying in state
Waiting for Anubis to bring them to judgement.
I thought of all of the scarf-wearing maverick scholars
Who sat for years in the British Museum Reading Room
Writing some tract to change the world forever
Whose names now linger only in reference books.

I thought of the promises parents make to children
To put them to sleep. I thought of the promises children
Make to themselves, and break when they grow up;

Never to fall asleep straight after dinner

Never to see snow fall without excitement

Never to say to a child, "You'll understand when you're older".