A sheet bends under its own weight. Joined to others, it becomes part of a structure: pages, stitching, glue, a spine. The prologue follows this transformation before the first poem.
The opening brings together the book we read and the object we hold. It directs attention to the gap that must open between two pages before a sentence becomes visible.
This relationship runs through the volume. Iron, glass, light and paper remain specific materials with their own behaviours and limits. Bringing them close to human experience also requires acknowledging where the comparison ends.
Engravings interrupt the verbal sequence. Colour pages change the field of attention before a longer prose piece. Form shapes the pace without needing to explain the text.
The prologue offers a way in. Holding an opening precedes reading; the relationships that follow belong to each reader.