[Newspoetry] nypl newspoem

[Geoffrey Kurtz]

New York Public Library

Lights go down. The library's
closing early. The guard says:
"The world, uh, forum
has a function here.

There'll be protests outside.
We gotta secure the place,
make sure no one 
destroys this beautiful building."

The phone book lists
twelve Barnes & Nobles.
The mayor doesn't want
to tax the monied.

Outside, if I stand 
on the sidewalk and squint, 
the library's made of lines
like barcodes, or bottom ones.