The written loom

(A 1972 Dictionary Speaks)

Lately, my days have been filled with silence.. and words.. So many words..
Some I whisper..
Some whisper me..

And yesterday, while taking a short walk, I stopped by my postbox..

There was a small envelope waiting for me..
No stamp..
No return address..
Just one line:

“To the one who sees the words before the sentences.”

I opened it without understanding what I was holding..
Until I saw the signature..
And then I knew..

The letter was from the dictionary.

They made me in 1972..
With many words.. And even more hands..
I was a school dictionary.. not grand, not flashy..
But honest.. Built to last..

They kept me on a shelf in an American warehouse for a while..
Then I was shipped off to a bookstore somewhere in Europe..
Some leafed through me..
Some compared me..
No one ever chose me..

And so, one quiet afternoon, a kind employee moved me into storage..

I don’t blame anyone.. nobody’s fault.. Trends changed.. Screens began to win..

But I always knew what I was..
I wasn’t just “words.. 
I was a symphony of language..
A meeting of sounds, meanings, images, and memory..
I was filled with words that had lived in mouths, in aims, in silences..

And then.. you came..

I felt you from the very first touch..
Your fingers were hesitant, but tender..
You didn’t come looking to take me home..
You came so I could find you..

And I was ready..

That’s why I opened to bookbinder first..
And showed you the diagram of fasteners.. because I sensed how much you love the details..
And I revealed to you corpus.. so you could see the many hands that shaped this big body of mine..

My cover may be worn..
My paper may carry the scent of storage..
But not a single word within me has ever betrayed you..

I’ve been waiting for you..
Because I’m not just a dictionary..
I am a way to remember who you are..

You.. who cares for the word before the phrase..
You.. who touches the root before the surface..

If you take me home, I won’t be “yours.”
We’ll be together..
Like old friends, who remember something, that was never said aloud..

Yours,

The American Heritage School Dictionary