Steel cable hums beneath my boots
Card catalogue draws slow and deep
Altos fade in vaulted suites
Temperature holds what paper keeps
Harness clips to numbered rail
Acid-free boxes stacked in rows
Latin mass becomes a veil
Silence weighs what no one knows
Catalogue heights where voices settle
Wire and shelf in measured breath
Every footnote finds its level
Balanced between life and death
Pizzicato plucks the guy-wire line
Cello bows the dust on numbered shelves
Flute recalls a Kyrie sign
Archive air keeps only selves
Catalogue heights where voices settle
Wire and shelf in measured breath
Every footnote finds its level
Balanced between life and death
No audience below to catch the fall
Just preservationists in cotton gloves
I sing the Te Deum standing tall
Above the restricted, quiet coves
Morning light hits reading room glass
Microfilm spins halo on the floor
My shift ends, I watch the cable pass
Down to stacks I won't explore
Harness unclips, boots find concrete stair
Hymnal memory lingers in the hand
Catalogue breathes its regulated air
No encore for this high-wire band
Catalogue heights where voices settle
Wire and shelf in measured breath
Every footnote finds its level
Balanced between life and death
Catalogue heights where voices settle
Wire and shelf in measured breath
Every footnote finds its level
Balanced between life and death
Catalogue heights — the last refrain
Wire and shelf — the quiet strain
Harpsichord fades. Cable holds.
