"Where the Lions Sat" by Rochelle Leya Watts

Dark clouds streak the sky
Long fingers to twist the sun into a dimmer day
So the stones below
Lining the long winding street
Grow cold to match their coats of gray

Thunder rumbles by and by
Rushing those who have not time for rest
How weary they must be
And why do we wonder
As society rushes down, spirals east to west

They were once used for I
Who climbed past the Nemean twins poised still
Wanted to glance inside
And see what the double doors hid
Their carved faces staring at me as I gathered will

Until I felt the need to spy
And pushed the chilled handle as rain began its fall
And slid into the cover
Of a dim chamber that still glowed
In flickering lamplight where the storm starts its call

Blinking to clear each eye
And looked around to collect where I'd ended
To find myself in front of a desk
Where an absent secretary sat
Then, beyond I saw what objects this place suspended

Outside the weather gave a great cry
But I wandered through an arch where the rows began
Rows and rows the so far fled
And stacked away through the room
And each filled with books, lined like soldiers in ranks span

Scanning their backs, contents to scry
I drifted through the chamber carpeted so silent
And the outside clash hushed
For all things rested here
Quieted into pondering the world's life spent

Nothing there was a thought to deny
And still no appearing librarian arrested my meandering round
So that hours I could have spent
Among these bound new friends
While outside still rang the violent storm sound

For counted as outside defy
The worry and haste and the pains in libraries is no more
So I enjoy their solitude
And this the epitome thereof
As titles gained interest as I continue to explore

Days later, the time that hours buy
I returned along the stony street with anticipation
And where the lions crouched
Stood space bare, nor did the building
Raise before my eyes in its immense station

Where did all this fly
Or whether I lost in looking wrong for the library
I know not but the joy
I spent upon an afternoon
Impermanent like the one-time kiss of mischievous faerie