LUCKNOW LIBRARY

a white haveli

with a modest garden

a curved stairway 

faces as old as the place

barely notice me

​

a library, a narrow wooden

staircase to the left

cautioned me to be 

light on my feet

and hold my breath

​

books from 1907 and before

leather bound, aged

dramatic in their decay

pages turned to dust 

cautioning me to be tender

​

as history crumbles in my hands