Philip Larkin at Hull
THE LIBRARY
“dwindling, went”
—Philip Larkin,
The Importance of Elsewhere
THE WHITSUN WEDDINGS
Standing there by the card catalog—
This photo surely as ancient as I am
Here in the William Allen White Library
The Library, since it wasn’t home—
Its strangeness made sense, a kind of
Rebuff of speech by the written word
Insisting so on the difference—
Making me feel welcome: once that
Was recognized, we were in touch
Those secluded dead-end stacks—
Archaic smell of books like a temple
Proving me separate, but knowable
Living in Kansas was no excuse—
Here no elsewhere underwrote my
Existence, how could I refuse?
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