Bookends of Self

Bookends of Self

 

 

the older version of me

soft cover publication

of the hard cover life i once lived

drug scripted pages

type blurred by an unpaved road

i could be tarred and feathered

and never even notice

the table of contents

 

is missing.

 

 

 

erin-cilberto

 

9/1/19

Reviews

[gram linski]

laughed out loud when I read this, excellent poem, j.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thanks, gram,
j.

[Kaede16]

honestly tho, isn't it better to live without a table of contents? I rather like the mystery of it.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

absolutely...thank you for the read and comment, Kaede.
j.

[Neville]

imperfectly matched and correspondingly well leafed.... dust jacket repaired and references pending.... perfectly poemed, in my book regardless....

N.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind words, Neville,
j.

[Neville]

I certainly enjoyed yours jacob,
N.

[Kesch (Finding Julia)]

I don't know I may be of both off and on. This is really good

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Kesch
j.

[Robert Trakofler]

I think of my younger self as a pamphlet with a bad road-map LOL easily discarded and utterly useless with the you are here dot but having no discernible definition of geographic locality. and my current self as a he was here with a red dot and no map but only with a more tantalizing advertisement attached:) clever lines Jacob! perhaps for posterity you might consider using my pamphlet as a book marker?

[jacob erin-cilberto]

as S&G sang..."and we note our place with book markers that measure what we've lost"
thank you for sharing these words, bunny.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Sometimes I think I am hardcover now, the soft cover representing my early days before the hard knocks set in. With you Jacob, it appears to be the opposite. You have now become a chocolate with a soft yummy centre. The teeth breaking days of hard caramel are all but a memory. Love this short poem. Says so much.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your very kind review, Chris,
j.

[Kay Salisu Titilola]

What once new is now old.
Only if we can clone ourselves and send one travel through the past that we may see our younger self through the mirror of ages.

Well written, J.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i really like that idea, Kay...would be interesting to be able to do that.
thank you,
j.

[Ted Kniffen]

Would the younger version of ourselves look at us now and cringe?
Do we look back and shake our heads at our own recklessness, or do we accept that who we are now was designed by who we were then.
That hard cover life, sometimes fueled by poor choices, with its ever present threat of tar and feathers is behind us...most of the witnesses long gone.
And still, here we are, table of contents missing but appendices still available to peruse.

A good write, j. It speaks to another 'Old fella'.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

your replies are always so insightful, Ted.
you are full of wisdom my friend.
thank you,
j.

[Lorry]

My spine is also cracked and the cover now looks like it's 412th hand, but the question your piece brings is a revelation to me. There's supposed to be a table of contents??? &? 😀
So perfectly summed up in so few words Jacob. That was no surprise of course.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, Lorry,
j.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

I feel this captures old books that once new, have now been read and now sit dusty upon the shelf, lifeless and worn out by time.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your words, John..yes, books as well...
j.