In 2114, the bookworms will rule the earth,

for this is the year the Future Library unseals itself.

Shrouded by one thousand trees,

authors slip secret stories to sprites,

who seal these written worlds in the soil of Nordmarka,

a promise in exchange for whilom glimpses.

For one hundred years, inch by inch,

the trees whisper about

moons, and sons, and whirling cups,

about Norway, and Vietnam, and England,

all the while would Enid Blyton shiver

to climb up and listen to the unsaid faraway book club.

Sprouted from traces of fleeting civilizations,

roused by tales of technological fascination,

these trees might as well run the worldwide publishing house,

some do consider themselves amateur writers,

having theorized the meaning of life twice times over

from the palimpsests of great imaginers and all.

In 2114, should the bookworms rule the earth?

The requirement to excavate such unprecedented

pages includes the will to obliterate the original readers.

One thousand lives in exchange for a passing prequel,

when there’s an entire history of everchanging exhilaration for us to explore.

Forever growing in the frosty forest,

let the trees keep our secrets in their rooted libraries.

When the time comes, they’ll share them.

​

This poem is inspired by The Future Library, a project where over 100-years, a writer contributes an original work that will remain unpublished and unread until 2114. Trees were planted in the Nordmarka forest especially for this project. They will be cut down and turned into 100 manuscripts for the people who purchase the right to be one of the readers. I may be 145 and dead by the time that The Future Library is unsealed, but I urge the organizers to share the 100 stories with readers all around the world, not just with those with exclusive funds. Also, our advancements in technology make it perfectly possible to release these works online— “let the trees keep our secrets in their rooted libraries,” and if not, re-plant 1000 trees in their place for another future library, or for the forest itself. Learn more here: www.futurelibrary.no