Finding William Blake, 1983

An Unread Book

Who would have guessed, or ever

Imagined what treasure

Lay in the antique bookshop in Chelsea, England?

Long after my fascination had been firmly

Ingrained in my soul –

And though my mind was not on the poet that day –

My steps must have been guided.

Book lover that I am, the crowded shelves drew me in.

Leather bound and one hundred years old,

Almost like new, it must have been unread.

Kindred spirit, his words spoke of infinite beauty seen in

Every grain of sand.

2002                                                 Charles Kinnaird

[Artwork credit: “Christ in the Sepulchre, Guarded by Angels,”  by William Blake

Public Domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]