by Donelle Dreese

Research Before Google
(A library is a repository of medicine for the mind ~Greek Proverb)

Metal shelves shoulder to shoulder
measured for browsing space

in rows fill a broad room
with the scent of book binding

and history. One isle contains
a footstool, a note pad, and a girl.

The privacy choreographed
but not absolute. She takes it

all in, a marathon runner
each book a roadside vista

on a scenic highway where she
must stop for a blessing.

The boy in the next aisle
closes his eyes, inhales

her perfume, simple and clean
citrus and spring rain.

He traces an isolated doodle
waits like a frozen river.

Donelle Dreese is the author of two poetry collections: A Wild Turn (Finishing Line Press), and Looking for a Sunday Afternoon (Pudding House Publications). Her poetry and fiction have appeared in publications such as Quiddity International, Hospital Drive, Roanoke Review, Appalachian Heritage, Runes, Gulf Stream Magazine, Journal of Microliterature, Gadfly Online, and Conclave. She is an Associate Professor of English at Northern Kentucky University.