pools are
public swimming pools

not the ones
those higher up
are ordained to have

(might it be written
in the small print
of some folks’ manifestos)

Like libraries
the fellow asserts
public swimming pools
open from 10am to 4pm

who can go there
he further jests

the unemployed
entrepreneurs
who don’t work
too hard

Libraries and Librarians
ritually unearthed they are
during Library Fine Free Week
World Book Day and
World Read Aloud Day

though there seems oft
the need by learners
to copy and paste
off the Internet
in these quick-fix times

though it is forgotten
that the library is the temple
of learning and learning
has liberated more people
than all the wars in history

more’s the pity
their swimming pool hours

A CapeTalk fellow gets on the wrong side, just before 9am – before (most) libraries’ opening times, February 21 2019. See “Librarians inspire learning”, a People’s Post Athlone article, 15 September 2015. Carl T Rowan is the author of “The library is the temple” quote.