The Librarian's Song by Thomas Park at Spillwords.com

The Librarian’s Song

The Librarian’s Song

written by: Thomas Park

@mystified131

 

So you like detective novels?
They are at the end and on your left
70000 items, one is lost
Can it be found in seconds’ span?

How long does it take one child
To re-arrange a shelf of books?

If I have no documented proof
Of who I am or where I live,
May I have borrowing privileges?

This was a place for families, still is
To some degree, supposed to be for
scholars, too– replaced in time to a large extent
By dvds and Nintendo

The section most popular? Computer lab
16 glowing portals into the web
Each patron his or her own librarian
Connecting images, snatches of words
Data, forms, and videos

If you stay, peruse the shelves
Grown dusty with disuse, dates
Stamped back, not since 5 years
Books deemed “dead”, to be removed

Somewhat surviving field of knowledge
Trampled by financial necessity
Into colorful fairground
Ferris wheel of spinning footage
There for those who can’t afford
Ownership

The librarian, clerk
Arranging instant symphonies
Percussive stacks of musical discs
Come and go, stack and fall
Case cracked, replace
And card renew

Entropy, a cart of books
The shelver’s cotton skirt
Brushes gently as she walks past
Like a feather against a great mountainside

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