It goes on again and again
All that was lost
Imagine a library of particular books
All gone
Never to be replaced

They were icons of my life
The thread of understanding
History , geography and botany
All I wanted to learn
Even the compete works
Of Charles Darwin

Gone the library
Gathered over decades
Lovingly collected
All there in that book case
Lovingly restored
Treasures so much of my heart

God bless those
That have gifted me books
To recreate a collection
Of wonders again
A library is an essential
Part of life

To be surrounded by books again
Restores my heart
Giving me access
To the world now and before
Heart full of connections

To read is to know
Where we came from
And where we might go
In this fractured world of now

Botanical Revelations
And Botanical Riches
Are two great tomes
Revealing the intrigue
Of plants on this delicate planet

How we in the western world
Plundered the new world
Transporting so many new species
To great benefit to our diet

But at the cost of terrible exploitation
Of human lives as slaves
To grow the sugar cane
The tabacco and the cotton

That’s where reading takes me
Sometimes
Always revealing
Another perspective of life

I wonder if we can get
To the end of story
Of today and yesterday
Never knowing the truth!