6. The Past Described, As a Figure

What were those days like?  Remembering

is like remembering

white, or water.  It’s another resemblance,

the libraries packed

with broken metaphors, book after book filled

with “water is like…”,

“white as…”  When Alexandria caught fire,

the librarians burned like candles,

like suet.  As for the manuscripts and their similes,

nothing was lost – it was like a fire.

“6. The Past Described, As a Figure” (from The Book of Isaac, Burning) was first published in The Paris Review, Spring, 2003.