Domestic Interior

Library

Library There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library. Andrew Carnegie Potions and lotions, which all smell gross, And regressions to the past, the past self Pierced tongue, pink hair, potty mouth Voodoo doodoo,Wiccan crap, fake religion borne out Of the Englishman’s loss of the oral trad. Taken up by this Betty Page–tattooed elf Doing spells via the Internet, which I can see Over her shoulder—me—the neutral Bringer-to-info in the building of the free Housing and retrieval of information, and so I go Like a psychopomp between The conscious and the unconscious world, bringing her, and the guy Who gambles away online His Social Security checks each time and therefore sleeps on our patio And help each one “log on” to “cyberspace” Words invented byWilliam Gibson, anAmerican novelist, I believe; And help them print their pages from the screen. Here you go. I stand beside, with no opinion, with no interpretation, and besides, There is someone else now who needs a guide To oil painting and here he needs A book by an author that is translated from theThai Language and the fourth request today for Romeo and Juliet in pbk. Our drunk walks to the front door carrying today’s newspaper. Excuse me, you can’t take that out of here. He is, he thinks, my pal. He pats me on the back: I’m busted. I have no opinion. I cannot interpret taxes. Here is the form. I cannot give you advice for that, sir. My mother hasAlzheimer’s. I need to know. How can I find out about fetal alcohol syndrome? The baby we adopted . . . I offer her a tissue And we walk to the shelf. 11 This is just a house. I will guide you between worlds—take this—here it is— But now I must go. Now there is someone else who needs That stupid trashy book by a misguided author-freak that everyone’s reading. Yes, we have it. I give it with no advice and no opinion. 12 ...