Richard Asks to Sort Books Together

My friend, I’ve made up my mind to climb up 
the ladder myself. The Brits are hiding behind 
the French, and the Germans in a ditch below. 
An entire shelf for Proust and his acolytes and 
Rilke can tip his prophetic hat to the Italians. 
The Russians and Americans on the same case. 
Save them the trouble of crossing the Pacific 
to steal from each other. The Aramaic, Arabic, 
and Hebrew god only knows what I’ll do with. 
Put them out next to Freud, Jung, and Melanie 
Klein. What will I do about the Chinese? God, 
when did I become a diplomat? The art books 
you say? Put them on the very bottom shelf. 
Art does something  at last. A counter weight.