The fluorescent light seems to struggle
against death. Not dead yet, the fixture
pulses every few or several seconds
bequeathing humility to the shadows.
The light is beacon-like above the shelves
of biography—the book named Elon Musk,
the book named Flannery O’Connor.
Not being people, the biographies seem
un-irritated, self-contained. I am so
irritated I can barely contain myself.
Uncle, I have “practis’d so long to learn to read,”
but now feel myself as attention launched against
that light. Someone is responsible.
I am just a patron of this library.
Click here to read Marc Rahe on the origin of the poems.
Image: “134/335 – Heimat/Home” by Boris Thaser, licensed under CC 2.0.
Marc Rahe is the author of two books of poetry, The Smaller Half (Rescue Press, 2010), On Hours (Rescue Press, 2015), and Gravity Well (Rescue Press, 2020). His poems have appeared in The Iowa Review, jubilat, MAKE Literary Magazine, PEN Poetry Series, Sixth Finch and other literary journals. He lives in Iowa City.
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