The Deep Reader’s Groove

The problem with re-reading
Is that a single reader
Over time becomes more like
Any other committee,
Prone to return to the mean,
To sanded-down consensus.

There’s an assumption the depth
Of understanding deepens
As it wears into a groove,
And claims of finding new things
Through re-readings are frequent
And may be true, but a groove
Is also increasingly
Confining, narrowed, and smoothed.