Statistics and Waterfalls

The textbook lies on the
reading table in the fiction room,
its statistics, diagrams and graphs
as factual as a cement walk or
lightbulb. Dropped by some
absent-minded hand near the shelves
that offer journey to the
rock candy mountain and haunted
waterfalls (return not guaranteed)
where unknown countries wait to be
explored by curious travellers.
The textbook knows the number
of board feet in a forest tree,
but not the shudder stirred by
a stealthy movement in the leaves,
the glimpse of a black paw
poised to strike.