None of the Modern Conveniences

I set my library on fire.
I felt it was no longer necessary.
Nobody read the books anymore.
No one needed to see today’s newspaper.
Everybody had the web at home
and no one had any questions to ask me.
I warmed my frozen hands, long unused
to leaf through any books in our collection.
While I watched the smoke billowing up,
people gathered around to see the fire.
They wanted to know how to find out
the reason why I burned down the library.

- originally printed in “Codslap: the Library Society of the World Zine” (2009).