I watched her pour through lunch rush crowds
Wiped my rim on greasy shrouds
Now she descends where card files sleep
Past boiler pipes where dust sits deep
She trades my steam for silent air
Dewey decimals replace the fare
No pie cases no vinyl booths
Just manuscript and microfilm truths
Her apron folded in a locker drawer
She don't need tips on this floor
Fingers trace a catalog tray
Seeking something lost today
She trades my steam for silent air
Dewey decimals replace the fare
No pie cases no vinyl booths
Just manuscript and microfilm truths
I know her order two eggs over
Hash browns scattered smothered covered
But here she hunts a different plate
Family names and county date
No clatter here of spoon on rim
No bell dings out no cook's loud hymn
Just her breath and turning page
A quiet war the years engage
She finds the ledger forty-three
A name she knows staring back at me
Great-granddad's hand in brown ink
She reads the line don't even blink
She trades my steam for silent air
Dewey decimals replace the fare
No pie cases no vinyl booths
Just manuscript and microfilm truths
She snaps a photo phone screen glow
The only light in archives low
Tucks the book back on
