My Check Out Oz

Kansas blew before my mind

in vivid windswept images,

Oz sprawled in yellow brick roads

across whatever landscape

happen to appear in a day.

 

It was all the wizardry of childhood

when I would find those fantasies

at the local library.

I could be the scarecrow,

tin man, lion and whatever else

my creativity could conjure

while reading the pages of a book.

 

Only thing that deny my ecstasy

was that woman behind the counter,

she was old and grumpy

scared every kid to death,

we all imagined she had a broom in back,

plus some pot to boil children.

 

Any time we dared to check out a book

oh the terror she would inspire,

whoa to the one who returned it late,

surely they would end up dinner!

 

Never found any ruby shoes for protection,

only had a stuff dog for a pet,

took it with me once

didn’t help at all,

still had that evil eye

when I borrowed The Wizard of Oz again.

 

Eventually she retired

kept looking around for the house

that must have fell on her,

all of us figuring

some munchkins hide it somewhere.