LIBRARIANS IN SPACE

Once we were community-circles of stories
we would gather by Light and share our tribal histories
recount numbers of hunts and children hatched
track of herds and trails followed
long before the need for paper/marks on stone
Once memory was lost,our history had to be stored
in a physical uni-verse ,attended by experts
They were our repositories for stories
We shared with them the ones we valued
Borrowed others and returned them
in many media ,free and accessible
This was before the FEAR set in-
censorship and budget cuts
monies going ot poLICE and inSECURITY forces
People forgot their stories.Neglected their libraries
Did not defend their commUNITY spACES
Now we have less access to our collective memories
Days are stolen from us and homeless barred
We are not allowed to sleep ,or eat or drink ,or stop
or loiter near the stories,lest we remember days
when we were.Stories are neglected,grandfathered
librarians leave,retire-they know when they are not wanted
Even this story will not raise a bUdGET sufficient
for every librarian to be fully engaged
It is what we value we choose to feed
One day(again)we will value stories
and our custodians and repositories...
FOR EVERY LIBRARIAN IS A UNI-VERSE WE NEED!