Tom Joad’s shovel

in my compost pile of library books,

magazines and family book shelves

I searched tidal flats for signs of life with Steinbeck

shared intimate secrets with Dickinson, Sexton and Edna St. Vincent Millay

I gloried in myths and legions with victors and survivors

studied the Bible to stay awake during sermons

read dictionaries, Reader Digest and McCalls,

glossaries and appendices were road maps

encyclopedias in our living room cured my boredom

(I only got through the letter H before I skipped to the last volume)

and now I read some idiots want to indoctrinate us

by banning books in libraries and schools

Tom Joad taught me how to swing a shovel

and I will

11-17-24