This was my first poetic stop outside of the Philadelphia scene. Philadelphia is an extreme example of a melting pot of verse and experience. So, I was eager to try on this small town open mic night to see what it would offer to an out of towner.

My apprehensions perked a bit when the first poet stood and delivered an attempt at a poem, but fell short by simply sketching a verbal outline around some thoughts. Yet, every single poet that followed offered something compelling and provocative. The gem of that night stood out when I digested the greatest meditation on life in the college town (Texas A&M resides in the next town over.). She offered beautiful word portrait to the effect of: ‘In this town we bleed maroon and paint our houses white.’ Though you may never live in a college town in the deep south, I’d bet the themes of fear of mediocrity and conformity are not lost on you. Thus, the message transcends.

This single truth resonates for me: poetry is a microcosmic expression of the culture and environment it finds itself in. However, It is always a reflection of the human condition: struggle,growth, regression, life, death, love,etc. So, no matter where you go, the struggle may be greater or lesser or it may be a different kind of struggle, or love or death, but the same, essential components are always there.

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Not too long after, I toured the halls of Cushing Memorial Library and Archives on the campus of Texas A&M. My guide, Dr. Todd Samuelson (Curator, Rare Books and Manuscripts), took me on a journey from ancient Sumerian tablet receipts to an original page, straight from Ezekiel in Gutenberg’s Bible. The tablets amazed me most – a tiny two inch by two inch block of clay. Imagine a piece of charcoal, but red and with characters. The receipt accounted for the transaction of sheep sale. I considered the labor intensive document, and how I account for the cost of my time in a career as a photographer. Finally, I traversed, in my mind, to an ancient civilization. One man in a skirt says to another, "Sure Phil, I’ll sell you the sheep, but I’m going to have to charge you a Siku if not a full Ku dependent on how long it takes me to chisel out this receipt.”

We moved on to the real treat; a fully functioning replica of a 15th century printing press – one of only a few in the United States. Todd fired it up, which involved arranging the type, tacking the paper on the tympan and cranking a large arm to lower the frisket onto the paper. Dave tried his hand at it. We discovered that if this were a current livelihood there would be no need for a gym membership.

Papers hung all around like clothes from a clothes line. All of them were the excerpts from the same book. Some of them had varying “logos” emblazoned on the cover sheet. Dr. Samuelson explained that these were the remnants of the Book History Workshop that the library conducts annually. At the end of the workshop participants gather into teams and make their own pamphlets. They designed their own “team logo” by hand carving an image into a wooden block that is then pressed into the title page of their book.

Before we left we took notice of the Game of Thrones paraphernalia amidst all the books from various ages. Our inquiry led us to the discovery and ultimate disappointment that George R.R. Martin would be gracing the library with his presence shortly after our visit. However, we did get first glimpse at the items on display and in nerd glory mulled over maps of Kings Landing and family trees.

On my journey from ancient tablet to printing press and, finally, pop culture notoriety I could see that Cushing Library offers something for every connoisseur of the printed word.

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