Sculpted faces,
aging drama queens,

all the world's stages, this
is after those, these depths
of despair, where no pieces fit,

Kintsugi, fractured flash bulb scene,

an instamatic moment, a Kodak memory.

Oh Snap
The jig is up
Caught red handed
With an overdue book

There's nothing to sneeze
As the Library Police
Roughed little me up
And slap the cuffs on me

Said book was due
Back in '92
They don't play that game
Or whistle that tune

Paraded out front
In the Police lineup
As the Librarian screams
That's the crook, lock him up

Now crying I find
Myself doing hard time
As that overdue book
Lingers on in my mind

Slapped with 3 years
Ironing book marked dog ears
Time off with good behavior
If I obey while I’m here

But the hardest part
Like it or not
They stripped me of my dignity
And took my library card

caught in the act
all of the time
self-censoring

weaved within creation
a child of the Universe
tuned in wavebands
ancient pathways
a finger painted wall.

I played with words
much like I fed the birds

    one morsel here
       another there

then suddenly became aware

they pulled together
     and made sense

have been a player ever since