Books Beget Books

Books beget books
nature's law
paper and pen
every seed after its kind
leaf mulch that replenishes earth
grows trees with leaves again

when the cycle is broken
books  disappear
unless monasteries rise
from quarry stone ruins of churches as before
and build libraries where no one cares
honeycombed with cells
where a remnant
reading, praying, writing
save  seeds
for another age,
offering  body soul and spirt
 to the literal word made flesh,
in speechless silence
but for the chapel choir
the literary mulch begetting books
begetting learning begetting books
from ages of dark mulch
candle stub to candle stub
the light flickers
until the dawn of a new day.