The Archives

Rice Library is always bustling with students,
But never the archives.
The tables and chairs sit unoccupied,
While the silence overwhelms.

I consider it a privilege,
When it’s my turn to sit at the front desk.
People watching helps pass the time.
From my seat, I have an unobstructed view,
Of the elevator and the computer.
I can see how people check Facebook or MySpace,
Instead of looking up call numbers.
They don’t know I can see what they’re doing.

I rarely get to deal with people.
My focus is spent on boxes of special collections.
Most of these are boring correspondences,
To and from people I’ve never heard of.
Occasionally I’ve found more promising items,
Things like pictures of famous people (Marilyn Monroe, for example),
Old British magazines, a judge’s gavel,
A tobacco pipe, vinyl records,
And even old reels of movies.

I spend my days surrounded by books,
Many years older than I am.
Several have copyright dates from the 1800s,
Or early 1900s.
I long to sit and read some of them,
But I’m not allowed to while I’m working.

The clock moves slower and slower,
As it gets closer and closer to the time I leave.
It feels like the second hand takes an hour,
To make its complete revolution.
Sometimes I can get by with leaving five minutes early.
Those are the days I relish.
©Rachel Ruppel 2006

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