Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Slightly Subversive Social Justice Librarian
























“When we identify where our privilege intersects with somebody else’s oppression, we’ll find our opportunities to make real change.” ― Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race


SLIGHTLY SUBVERSIVE SOCIAL JUSTICE LIBRARIAN

I look up from the circulation desk when
the girls walk in wearing leggings, glittery t-shirts, and brightly colored hijab. We
make eye contact and I smile. Then they identify
where
we shelve the thick fantasy books by their favorite author, and our
brief moment of connection ends. The privilege
of my position as librarian intersects
with their positions as readers, but I can see with
a glance around the room that more than one somebody
believes that this space is not theirs. This kind of look or covert stare “elses”
the girls and establishes mainstream oppression
even in this openly accepting public space. When asked for my recommendations, we’ll
head into the stacks and just by chance, find
ourselves near the two fantasy readers asking them for their suggestions. Our
shared love of books provides all of these readers with opportunities
not only to meet each other between the pages, but to
make
real
human-to-human connections, which result in genuine change.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2019



Thursday, June 13, 2019

To the Caterpillar


Photo via Roads End Naturalist

To the Caterpillar

I spotted the yellow dot of your egg on the dill.
Cutting a sprig,
I brought you in.

Daily, your egg darkened as you grew.
What once was a dot
is now the tiny dash of you.

Your life obeys the rules of geometry:
line follows point,
wings bring symmetry.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2019



Wednesday, June 12, 2019

But Seven is a Prime Number


via Unsplash

But Seven is a Prime Number

I am odd.
I am the seven
in your twofoursixeightten.
Left out
unless I add to or subtract from myself
in ways that don't
feel right.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2019



Thursday, June 6, 2019

Constellations



summer has arrived
chicory is blooming
bright blue roadside stars


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2019