movements

The book began as an idea. The book begins with a page with no ink.

The scribe writes and the scribe copies and the scribe binds the sheets and the scribe sells the work, and the book moves from hand to hand and the pages change.

The book was a scroll. The book was a secret kept locked away. The book was a treasure for kings. The book was chained to a desk.

The press turned and the letters pressed into the paper and the letters dried and the book multiplied. A single copy, a hundred copies, a thousand copies, all the same, all moving outward.

Printers typed. Printers pulled sheets. Printers wiped the ink from their hands and cursed the smudges on their hands and stacked the copies and wrapped them in twine and sent them off.

The book travelled by cart and by ship and through kingdoms and through stores and into homes.

Publishers rose and publishers fell and editors argued and readers waited and authors wrote and the work was made and the work survived and the work is still here.

The book was read in silence. The book was read aloud. The book was read by lamplight. The book was read under the burning sun.

The book was written and the book was spread and the book was passed along and the book changed hands. And still the book waits to be opened.