I woke up thinking about libraries and how much they have meant to me over the years. I have often said the books saved me until I was strong enough to save myself. And the idea for this poem came to me….rough around the edges as I just wrote it an hour ago.
WHERE DO I GO?
Where do I go
when home is not enough
or becomes too much
to bear?
Where do I go
to find myself
when I am lost
to find others
who are just like me
or not like me
or from a place
I wish I could call
my own?
Where do I go
to take a chance
to follow my dreams
to learn to believe
who I am
is more than enough
for me to be?
I go to books
and find
new worlds
I go to books
and find
new friends
I go to books
and
find myself.
Susan Taylor Brown
@copyright Susan Taylor Brown 2009
The full Poetry Friday round-up is with Julie Larios at The Drift Record.
If you love books and libraries as much as I do, please consider backing up one post in the blog and making a comment to help the cause.
That’s lovely! I especially like to learn to believe, who I am, is more than enough, for me to be.
Thanks. That line is a lesson I’ve spent a lifetime learning.
75 comments represents a huge roomful of people who love libries and who are supporting them through you. I think that’s HUGE.
A commenter on my entry suggested HUGGING THE ROCK for Girls, Inc. A fine idea, don’t you agree? 🙂
Oh yes, it is HUGE! But don’t you find it funny that so many people AREN’T commenting…like they think something weird is going to happen?
Lovely idea of that suggestion. I’m touched.
Nice poem! I guess we were both visited by a muse, eh? Stupid question: do I need to put that little copyright thing on blog posts of original work?
I guess the copyright thing depends on how worried you are. I’ve started doing it for poems and teasers.
By rights the fact that you wrote it, on your blog, and posted it, it is copyrighted by you.
I think it’s like locks and alarms that keep the honest people honest.
Poetry Friday
Love your poem. I had no idea, I knew April was poetry month, all the kids at BBC (breakfast book club) got poetry books to keep. Reading for fun = happy smart kids!
I’ll have to go and write a poem now!
Re: Poetry Friday
Thank you.
And yes, every Friday is Poetry Friday!
This poem touched me, because I felt exactly the same way. Thanks so much for writing it today!
I’m at 68 comments; I didn’t know what to expect, but I tend to agree with you — there are lots of people on my friends list alone who haven’t commented, and I’m wondering what the big deal is about not participating in a good cause. It only takes a second to comment and each one counts for a lot. I’m still hoping to break 100, but I know how quiet the blogs get on the weekend.
Thanks for the kind words about my poem. I would have been lost as child without the library to run to.
It is so very odd…I mean, yes, there’s my friends list but I thought I’ve probably been filtered to a lot of sub-lists that don’t get read all the time (I’ve lost a lot of readers) but I posted it on the Children’s Writer list on Yahoo Groups and they have like 3000 members? I posted it on Real Writing Teachers and they have over 1000. I posted it on my local SCBWI group. It’s on Guys Read Litwire and Betsy Bird’s column. Oh, and I went to Myspace and posted about it on a couple of library groups.
And I sent a Myspace message to every local library in and told them about it.
Boggles the mind.
Lovely. 🙂
Thanks, Becky.
Oh, Susan. Perfect! I love all the juxtapositions: not enough and too much, losing yourself to find yourself, just like me or not like me
Thank you for sharing this. I think you ought to make a printable .pdf version of this, with children’s writer and your name and blog or web address on it, and make it downloadable for people to print and give to their own libraries to show their appreciation.
Don’t you like the way I’m making new work for you?
Actually I think that is an EXCELLANT idea!
Thanks, Laura.
I tend to find myself pushing my blog more than my website lately. How about you?
I mostly push my website on any “official” stuff. I do have my blog (and my site) in my sig line, and it’s what I use when I participate in the blogosphere in any way. But I spend a lot of time on my site, so I want that to be my primary go-to spot for people new to me.
Thanks so much for your time in my class this week! I know everyone has appreciated your help a LOT!
You’re welcome, Laura. I really enjoyed seeing how that part of your world worked and your class was awesome.