My Solace, My Friends

How each turn of a leaf exudes a scent far
more alluring than the most fragrant flower

How each page that I read gifts me with
new insights and broadens my knowledge

How the smoothness of every leaf, to my touch,
feels like my lady's skin

How just marvelling at my bookshelf equals
pondering the Eiffel or, perhaps, the Stonehenge

Books, O' books!
My solace, my friends

My faithful and silent companions on nights I want
to forget my sadness and woes

My quiet and trusted accomplices in moments I want
to get lost in some distant yet familiar world

- December 2, 2004, Thursday;
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada