old books, previous mistresses

old books, previous mistresses
take down a volume from the shelf
sink into that familiar embrace

a novel from the seventies --
Provos, bombings in London
radical chic -- how antiquated it seems

in the flyleaf the inscription
"Merry Christmas Joyful 1978"
"Love" from an old girlfriend

thirty years have passed, and that love
or youthful infatuation, whatever it was
leaving no visible scars