Encyclopedia from the Door Salesman; Regrets
Poems (audio)
If I could go back
to a time particular
it would be one when
that eager, nicely dressed salesman door-knocked
to sell me the encyclopedia.
I should have answered
the door, should’ve bought his pitch
and that fine hardbound
wealth of knowledge in 25 volumes
(well, have mom or dad buy it anyway)
Regrets?
Yes, I have.
Not about relationships,
family or friendships,
not about higher education
nor professional vocation…
but regrets indeed of
not keeping some trendy threads
that are now valuable vintage;
not upkeeping my dollbabies
to near original quality;
especially my Cabbage Patches…
and most of all…
spilling and staining,
cutting up and coloring
and, oh my word,
tossing out volumes of
encyclopedia pages!
Oh my dearest regret…
ruining a perfectly clean, full
Funk & Wagnalls set!
Tragedy…
Put a kid in front of an encyclopedia set today, and watch him/her break out into tears trying to figure out how to use it.....
I grew up with a Childcraft encyclopedia that was published in the 1930s. It was not the most useful reference work but not having a current edition forced me to make frequent visits to our local library. That was a good thing!