The Magic World

By Haimanti Dutta Ray

The parallel universe of make believe

Is like Nature which renews itself with a new leaf.

We say that celluloid induces our willing suspension of disbelief

The smell of old books inducing a putrid stench that we sniff

We take out books from the shelf, like drops oozing from a sieve

Fiction makes us dream – we take a lot, but there’s more to give.

We begin to believe in the words that we read in books,

Getting enmeshed in the plot, we try to finish it by hook or crooks,

Libraries are shutting down, hearing the march of history like horse hooves

We march inside portals now, without removing our shoes.

Smarter gadgets have replaced our habits of reading

The charm of books lay in their sharing and lending

“New books have arrived!” The Librarian invited our sampling –

This world of magic, gives more to us by the art of withholding.

Books are like Nature herself – pristine and pure,

Once you sit down with a book, you’ll never regret for sure.

By Haimanti Dutta Ray