The Library

i went to the library
to sit in the carrel
by the window on the second floor and as i turned the corner
by the outdated history books
i smelled a most pleasant smell coming from a blonde girl
sitting in the carrel by the window where i always go at 11:00
on monday, wednesday and friday and i wasn't upset
to sit two carrels away
where i could only stare
at a white cinderblock wall because her smell was so pleasant

but i wonder who she is
and why she’s here today
intently studying chemistry
she looks so clean and healthy
wearing those shades of brown
which match her eyes i noticed
when she looked up
from the carrel there on my right
as i passed her on my way
to find a collection of James Agee poems
containing “sure on this shining night”
which Samuel Barber set to music in 1941

he is said to be the most played composer of this century
but the poem was not in the collection
that our library has
so i went downstairs and ordered the book
of poems through interlibrary loan
and in a couple of weeks a lady
with a terribly inefficient and whiny voice
will leave a message on my answering machine
and i will have forgotten i wanted the book
but will be happy that the interlibrary loan worked
and reassured that even though
this school can seem insufficient for studying the arts
i can get books and information from larger schools
without having to pay their outrageous tuitions

i went back upstairs and the girl was still there
sitting in the carrel by the window
she still smelled pleasant so i told her
“you smell very nice today”
and she said
“thank you very much”
but then a thought struck me
what if she wonders if she doesn't usually smell nice
i hope i haven't given her a complex
i hope she isn't still in the library
waiting for me to explain
that i didn't mean just today
i've never smelled her before
i thought she smelled nice today
and i thought it would be nice to tell her
i hope she doesn't start wearing too much perfume
because that can be as bad as
not wearing anything at all

i mean perfume
i don’t mean that it would be bad
for her to not wear anything
but i’m not saying that
she shouldn’t wear anything in the library
i only meant that she smells nice today
i hope she doesn’t file suit against me
i could get arrested for sexual harassment
then when my girlfriend found out
that i was with a naked girl in the library
she would never let me go back
and i’ll be fined for the books i can't return
and when the woman calls
about the James Agee collection
i won’t be able to go and get it
and she will call again and again and again
and her whiny inefficient voice
will always be on my answering machine

“The Library” was literally the first free verse poem I made while taking a poetry writing class with Paul Lake at Arkansas Tech University. It’s a great example of why we avoid using technology in poems and yet, if you know you know. Also, it’s quite sophomoric but we can’t run forever from our youth. From “Liner Notes.”