Why can’t I find my Beardsley book?

It’s heavy, large and black and white.
I’ve looked on every shelf.
I’ve searched in vain from room to room
My Beardsley book is not upon my shelves?

The book is gone..
(I must have lent it to a friend.)
Nor is the precious tome I owned,
on Asian art….Japan.

I feel a pang….
That sense of loss.
I realise…they are just books…
And they are bought and sold…

I know…I’ve lost my books,
But…not my soul.
Those worthy tomes have strayed,
and taken a direction of their own.

And nothing stays the same.
In ownership…zero remains.

Kristine Byrne 2nd April. 2020.
Image….in search of my Beardsley Book.