Poetry Friday: a dewey decimal mind
Susan Miles of Traverse City, MI recently sent me a copy of a wonderful book. Called Revolting Librarians it’s edited by Celeste West and Elizabeth Katz and my edition is the second printing from 1972. I was flipping through it this morning and a poem caught my eye. Now it’s caught in my head. So to share the love/earworm:
a dewey decimal mind
give me a dewey decimal system,
make it for my mind.
fix me a dewey decimal system,
madness is so unkind.
classify my strong emotions,
rectify my silly notions.
give me a decimal system for my mind.
grant me a dewey decimal system,
the sun no longer shines.
lend me a dewey decimal system,
help! i’m going blind.
interfile my fantasies
with harsh reality.
give me a decimal system for my mind.
rush me a dewey decimal system,
sanity’s hard to find.
speed me that dewey decimal system,
before i blow my mind.
catalogue my fears and sorrows,
shelve them away until tomorrow.
give me a decimal system for my mind.
tod hawks 1972
Happy Poetry Friday! The round-up is at Random Noodling.
Filed under: Uncategorized
About Betsy Bird
Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Kirkus, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on BlueSky at: @fuse8.bsky.social
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Great poem! I can really empathize with Tod Hawks. I could use a dewey decimal system for my mind, too! Happy Poetry Friday!
As one who has been diagnosed as ADD, I would love to have a dewey decimal mind!
Yes! A way to classify my strong emotions! Just what I need.
May I take this poem and put it on my blog??? It’s so perfect to describe everything about how my mind works, and how I wish it worked….
I’m doing my masters in library science, and trying to wrestle my way through a paper this weekend. This poem is feeling VERY WELL TIMED! 🙂
Sure, why not? I figure it deserves to be remembered.
Fun!