In the spring of 2011, I bought a copy of my teacher Elise Paschen's poetry Infidelities from a used book store at Lakeview, Chicago. The title page of the book has Elise's autograph and a note says, "For Kitty & Harry, Abiding presences throughout a childhood on Scott Street! All my love, Elise 10/18/96". Later, Elise told me that copy was for a renowned Chicago based architect Harry Weese (1915-1998) and his wife. The famous buildings he designed in Chicago include the Time & Life Building, the Latin School, and the Metropolitan Correctional Center. Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Weese past away a few years later. Whenever I enter a used book store I feel quite sad Books once belonging to other people End here now I love books, I collect many of them It is my dream To have a study room like a small store Worn and torn Every book must have been over-read And rows of books Are as ragged as indented sierras My thought flies Whimsically along this poetic intonation The undulate skyline Books are for sale, thoughts are for sharing I gather books Only for someday to lose, to disperse them Men are mortal The desire for knowledge is limitless Yet a book Is very concrete, with an appealing limitation Like a building Always designed for some reason, for people To dwell To work, to live, to take shelter, to run Repeated routines The transfer of possession is unavoidable Books have no Fidelity to their owners. Books are promiscuous Owners only enjoy The ephemeral beauty and the inevitable nostalgia Like in a city Buildings are re-sold, remodeled, yet some become Landmarks When I browse on a row of books, some title always pops out Glittering Like the golden glass curtain wall of the Time & Life Building Outstanding --

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