The Rest of the Pages Are Black

Memoirs are the commonplace
Books of the age, erudite
Compendia of good lines
From other sources arranged
Around some theme, what I did,
What happened, was done to me,
The year I crossed the desert,

Trained the hawk, lived in the woods,
Retraced the route, saw the past,
Found myself lost in a book:
Anatomies all, the art
In the accessorizing
Portmanteau worlds, wine pairings,
All librarian, no whale.