Dear WinkWorld Readers,
This poem, Lovebrarians, comes from a new book, SHOUT: A Poetry Memoir by Laurie Halse Anderson, available now on Amazon. I am copying the poem and attaching the PDF at the end.
Thank you, Lovebrarians, whoever you may be.
Lovebrarians
I hated reading. Loathed the ants
swarming across the page, lost
my excitement about school, fought, reduced
to a puzzle with missing pieces.
Once branded, the feeling of stupid never fades
no matter how many medals you win.
But then we rode the bus downtown
me and Leslie, who majored in music
and lived in our attic, Mary Poppins
with a Jersey accent, we rode the bus downtown,
the coins hot from my hand plink, plink
in the box next to the driver, all the way downtown
to a Carnegie library built by an immigrant
so everyone could read, free
and untrammeled by politicians seeking
to bind them into ignorance,
chain them to the wheel.
Leslie promised she’d read me the books
so I didn’t have to be afraid of mistakes
and I wrote My Name in big letters
got my first badge, a library card
I asked the librarian “Can I take out all the books?”
and she answered quite seriously
“Of course, dear, just not at the same time.”
And so, with extra Leslie help and a chorus
of angels disguised as teachers and librarians
for years unstinting with love and hours
of practice, those ants finally marched
in straight lines for me
shaped words, danced sentences,
constructed worlds
for a girl finally learning how to read
I unlocked the treasure chest
And swallowed the key.
Lovebrarians by Laurie Halse Anderson
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