My Best Friends

My best friends
lie buried
by the stream
just a short walk away
resting among the trees
I planted for them.

I talk to them all
wishing they could be here
but knowing
deep in my heart
I'll never see them again

for all that remains of them
lies within me
and when I join them
all will be gone
forever.

Musings on a Short Life as a Public Librarian

I wanted to save the world,
help all the people learn
whatever they wanted
or
needed to learn

supply the words
to warm their souls
ease the despair sure to come
lessen the pain of living.

So I worked
and worked
hour after hour
day after day
making it easy to find the words

the words they needed
to learn
to live.

But
they knew what they wanted.
It wasn't words.
It wasn't thoughts.
It wasn't understanding.

Images
that's what they craved,
celluloid images
moving images
Hollywood
empty soul images

Horror
Murder
Sex
numbing mindless
flickers of imitation light

No thoughts required
no brain necessary
no effort needed
no growth desired.

And so did the Board...
Movies are learning experiences
they thunk out loud
car chases
vampires
murders
sex
violence
all in widescreen format
that's what we need
at this library.

Really.

Do we want to learn that?
Teach our children those lessons?
Will they soothe us
when we despair?
Comfort us
when we're in pain?
Teach us to love?

to learn?

to live