I was also greatly saddened by Ms. Vardell's posting of a moving poem and link to another blog commemorating two librarians, Kate McClelland and Kathy Krasniewicz, who passed away in a car accident in Denver. I would like to offer my condolences for the families and friends of these women, specifically Kyle Stetson and Lauren Glover. Take a moment to reflect on the impact librarians, family members, teachers, and friends have had on you.
School Librarian
By Kristine O’Connell George
Mrs. Thompson knows I love sad stories.
The books she lends me
come with
hidden bookmarks—
folded tissues tucked into
the sad parts.
From: George, Kristine O’Connell. 2002. Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems. New York: Clarion Books, p. 35.,
Do You Have Any Advice for Those of Us Just Starting Out?
Ron Koertge
Ron Koertge
Not surprisingly, libraries are a good place to write.
And the perfect place in a library is near an aisle
where a child a year or two old is playing as his
mother browses the ranks of the dead.
Often he will pull books from the bottom shelf.
The title, the author's name, the brooding photo
on the flap mean nothing. Red book on black, gray
book on brown, he builds a tower. And the higher
it gets, the wider he grins.
And the perfect place in a library is near an aisle
where a child a year or two old is playing as his
mother browses the ranks of the dead.
Often he will pull books from the bottom shelf.
The title, the author's name, the brooding photo
on the flap mean nothing. Red book on black, gray
book on brown, he builds a tower. And the higher
it gets, the wider he grins.
You who asked for advice, listen: When the tower
falls, be like that child. Laugh so loud everybody
in the world frowns and says, "Shhhh."
Then start again.
From: Koertge, Ron. 2006. Fever, 2006. California: Red Hen Press,
found on Carol's Corner and Poetry180
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