March 17, 2009
“Visiting the Library in a Strange City”
The words reappear, slowly
developing
on a vast unknown
but precise number of pages
as I enter: the great building
empty of visitors
except for me, reading
the minds of the dead —
moving with exaggerated
and slow-motion care,
as when assigned to lead
the blind kid to his classroom
forty years ago,
down rows
between dusty volumes, a light
snow beginning.
Special permission has been granted by the author for Design Observer to reprint this poem online.
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By Franz Wright
Franz Wright’s books of poetry include The Beforelife (2001), God’s Silence (2006), and Walking to Martha’s Vineyard, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2004. He is currently working on Wheeling Motel to be published by Knopf.
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