Library South Africa Moshawane poem poetry Alexandria

IN THE GREAT LIBRARY OF MOSHAWANE

sometimes I wake up
in the great library of Moshawane

and suddenly ir has become
all the great libraries
in the history of the world

the place is so quiet
has a charmed silence

and I think of she
who kept the library of
Alexandria
until they burned her
books and priceless scrolls

books so easy to burn
to take your anger
out on

to torch to suppress any
inconvenient thoughts, words,
expression of ideas

that do not fit the mould
that we are better
off losingthe circle of all we love

and know
needing to be
drawn
smaller, smaller
than any fabulous circle

until of a size
no bigger
than a noose

and here I am telling you
what it is the books are saying
talking to each other

in this charmed silence
feeling to
humble to speak

waking up in a library
of dream