The Philosophy Shelves


I often visit a bookshop in a university town

Just to sit on a low step and gaze at the philosophical books

Before I start I photograph the three shelves twice

So that I might compare them with my previous visits

 

It is a relaxing occupation as I am left alone

With only the sheet music and the classical sections

Divorced from my somewhat lonely station

I am usually able to choose from around fifty books

 

On my last visit I purchased a Sartre and five magazines

Previously to that a Heidegger and a Bachelard

I am often joined by the ghost of Albert Camus

And we discuss the absurdity of my quiet theatre

 

Saul Green