Turning virtual pages

That exist only here

The Viking Hardbound First Edition

With orange and red letters

From 1973

The year I was born

It began with

“A screaming comes across the sky”

The edition is just as I remember

Or I can “read”

A yellowed paperback

Penguin From the '80s

Or the Deluxe edition

With its crispy clean acid-free paper

I could experience it as a Medieval text

With an Olde English font

Like a postmodern Gutenberg bible

Or I can take it in the old-fashioned way

As a rush of code

Flowing like alphabet soup

On a digital string

But it’s noticeable sub-real

Like circa 1997 CGI

My psyche rejects it as inauthentic

Because the tactile

Touch and taste

Is tinny

Faker than fake

I’ll wait around

For reality to improve