"Dear Old Moon" - Gordon Browne (1858-1942); via Old Book Illustrations 2007-2026 I see you again From behind the glass But only for a short while More than anything do I want to join you To hug you To dance with you To mingle your fingers with mine To love across your days and nights again But you aren't looking back You don’t know to And in the end, it's only a moment Like shades passing under lamplight I alone can see My damp handprint will linger a little longer On the g

'House of a Chinese merchant, near Canton.' - Allom, Thomas; Old Book Illustrations 2007-2026 Forever Foreigner I am bad at Cantonese Just over three years, it's been Since I started learning. Has it really been three years? Four pairs of jeans I’ve gone through Before remembering the word fu Because flowers so similar And you know one of them is called a fa But I don't remember simple things Like if, or pull, or same, or bring And that's so damn disheartening To think that b

First plate from Rethel's "Yet Another Dance of Death." - Rethel, Alfred 1816-1859; via Old Book Illustrations (2007-2026) Everything is a distraction. Anything anyone does is to waste time before the end. We help the sick; Go to space; Create intelligence from rock dust; Create unfair games and kill each other To change them century after century. Why, when we die? I brush my teeth; Work out; Fall in love; Carry coins in my pocket; Sit at a desk and tell myself things need t

"A Love Song" - Gibson, Charles Dana (1867-1944); via Old Book Illustrations 2007-2025 Love is hard to write about But easier than saying it. I love you is a password to pain and pleasure. It can mean everything them, But can they tell it is sincere? Can the cadence of the first instance set precedent for the rest of it? Does any moment have as much power as the first time? Should it? And does the last time make it all seem false, an actor encouraging an audienc

There is a tree outside my office. It cuts across a thin white building with large, black-framed windows. The trunk starts...

Above all, a good man. Standing outside the slipstream Of mourning Makes someone's death less interesting than a cocktail.