detailed cursory

sway as the master,
halting the alleviator.

an original piece,
and its many forged copies,
a copy of a copy,
how can it not be mistaken?
isn't it better to buy
a photostated version?
why risk reading something
you may not enjoy,
and pay an over the top
price for it?
Another may state that
its a joy to possess an original,
insisting that just the knowledge itself
that it is authentic can bring
unexplainable satisfaction.
But you just can't afford to purchase
more than one original piece.
You want to spend wisely,
cent to cent worth.

Scarlet skin,
golden print.
A cover not everyone can love,
its content interpreted differently,
every page scrutinized,
every page hated, loved
or uncared for.
written by an author
recognized on a global scale.
A must have by some,
a reject by others.
Uncertainty clouds,
so you buy a photostated version,
and read it through.

Captivated by each word,
how can you not be?
such flow, such expression,
the clarity of a diamond,
beginning to end.
'Definitely a must have,
why was there doubt?'
In that store you made your purchase,
Its title shone gold as its new owner
held it in front of him.
Reading the prologue
and only halfway through,
you shut your eyes,
mouth open wide,
and yawned.
With tear filled eyes,
you place the book aside,
'i'll read it another day,
i know the story anyway.'

dust covered and in a box,
pages past the prologue untouched,
not taken with him six feet under.
to be passed on to charity,
yellowing and fragile,
who else can appreciate its beauty,
inner text closed off from the light.

now just waiting for its turn
into the furnace it will burn.