This week, we venture into a writer’s sacred space – the library. Been spending time researching (and seeking a quiet place to fill my days). Head to the stacks and write of something associated with a library. Be it the shelves of books, the silence, a specific section or the atmosphere. It’s an inspiring place and not used nearly as much as it used to be or should be.
WALT’S PEACE:
CHARACTER SKETCH
I find a table in the back room, across the way a woman waits, studious and refined. Exchanged smiles and a nod, a recognition of each other's condition. Both on a mission to discover and uncover our truths. I delve into my notes, random lines and quotes of poetic potential, a vocabulary as a credential. She primps and organizes, text books and journals, pages put forth by sages of knowledge and education, her trained station. Shortly she is joined by her charge, a student of adult age, unsure and uncertain, shrouded by a curtain of doubt, out to prove detractors wrong. Treading on trepidatious feet he meets the one who will guide him, a black man wanting a better life, an understanding in undemanding tones. Grasping small bits of truth far from the youth of his days, he plays slowly with words a struggle undertaken. He battles the language valiantly, stepping cautiously from word to word. Yearning for a chance to better himself, willing to learn what she offers. I look over again and we all smile and nod. (C) Walter J Wojtanik - 2023