Date in the Rare Book Room

by Heather Whited

Art by Caroline Arthur

I am here just shy of thirty two, holding a wet umbrella on a cold June evening and we have come, with no money for other things, to the rare book room at the top of the stairs. We have come to this room with its high windows and its sneaking light to look at the books behind the glass, to hear the hisses from the desk when we reach to touch something we should not. In the rare book room we admire the faded covers and the ones preserved. We admire small, straight spines and their silver print, their fortitude for staying laced so very long. We admire their navy stitching, centuries prim. Up to the ceiling goes the collection and it wraps the room, circles the woman with the silver braid here to see that we keep to the rules, that curiosity does not get the better of us.

Caroline Arthur, Studio, Oil on Canvas

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