More than a decade later, the internet was in full swing and Katchadourian’s work inspired a viral revolution with its own hashtag, #bookspinepoetry. The meme is still going strong after more than five years. That’s an internet legacy.
I interpreted the meme in such a way the titles of the pile of books I used, provided the inspiration for a completely separate poem. Although it would be possible to consider the titles of the pile of books as a poem in its own right.
The original blog post that triggered this outburst of creativity has unfortunately disappeared but there are plenty more if you Google Book Spine Poetry
For example https://www.themarginalian.org/2013/03/15/sorted-books-nina-katchadourian-book/
Creative minds evolve and seek solutions in the mind
To trap the things that we can see
To share, remember, to see again
Simple things and prepared minds
Find ways to trap the everyday
To turn today into tomorrow
With tools and technology we create
Each wild idea we tame and twist
In dark, rooms and sheds we toil
We merge the most unlikely thoughts
Of art and things, machines and minds
To help us visualise the world
In different ways to other souls
To trap the things the eye can see
Memories of things, we want to share
With those we love, for whom we care
Before the ravages of time destroy
Frail memories crumble and decay
We try to remember what we thought
Think a thought and it is gone
Pass the threshold, disappeared
Deleted, lost forever more
Or so we thought, we turn the page
The thoughts of yesterday return
The taste, the smell, snapshots of the past
Return like vivid pictures, in the mind
Deleted now but never gone
Our memories live there on and on
In things, we like to store away
Things we’ll miss when they are gone
We thank creative minds that toil
To help us to recall the things that we forget
A photograph is all we need
To save, for ourselves and others too
Like insects trapped in golden amber
Our memories preserved for all to see
A snapshot of eternity…
Alistair J Parker
7th April 2016
This is my effort - A Snapshot of Eternity
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| The pile of books that inspired this poem |
Creative minds evolve and seek solutions in the mind
To trap the things that we can see
To share, remember, to see again
Simple things and prepared minds
Find ways to trap the everyday
To turn today into tomorrow
With tools and technology we create
Each wild idea we tame and twist
In dark, rooms and sheds we toil
We merge the most unlikely thoughts
Of art and things, machines and minds
To help us visualise the world
In different ways to other souls
To trap the things the eye can see
Memories of things, we want to share
With those we love, for whom we care
Before the ravages of time destroy
Frail memories crumble and decay
We try to remember what we thought
Think a thought and it is gone
Pass the threshold, disappeared
Deleted, lost forever more
Or so we thought, we turn the page
The thoughts of yesterday return
The taste, the smell, snapshots of the past
Return like vivid pictures, in the mind
Deleted now but never gone
Our memories live there on and on
In things, we like to store away
Things we’ll miss when they are gone
We thank creative minds that toil
To help us to recall the things that we forget
A photograph is all we need
To save, for ourselves and others too
Like insects trapped in golden amber
Our memories preserved for all to see
A snapshot of eternity…
Alistair J Parker
7th April 2016
Updated 10the April 2023
