The AC is on?
Drones in the mind of the library
Like 80 degrees today
I take a break in the walls of this institution
I pick out the last Harry Potter movie
And Chinua Achebe’s masterpiece
Things Fall Apart

The library is louder than I imagined it would be
Louder than the office
Louder than my home
People are coughing
Slamming doors
The librarian is stamping books
As is if she were slaughtering a pig
A pig she had something against
Patrons are chattering
I was hopeful to find sanctuary here
To shut out the noise

I’m sweaty from the bike ride
Smell me

There is a painting of South Danvers on the wall
Circa 1800
That’s what they used to call Peabody
Before they renamed it after the father of modern philanthropy
Who was birthed and buried in town
The image depicts a church
With teepees adjacent
A dirt road with a handful of pedestrians
A man on a horse
And the Grand Ole Flag
Flying in the distance
The Peabody Institute is also in the picture
That is what they used to call the library
Now it is called the Peabody Institute Library

The people in the painting are dressed so nicely
They just don’t dress that way anymore
These days we’re all slobs
And I’m just as slovenly as the next Joe
No mater what I think I know

 

Andrew Borne is 2 Cups Poet 1 teaspoon Musician 1/4 teaspoon Salt 1/2 cup Absurdity 3/4 cup Chef 1 egg, beaten 2 1/3 cups Family Man. Mixed together and served raw. His column 7x appears weekly in Oddball Magazine.