Image by chillihead via Flickr

I stickered books today;
White squares with reading levels and points–
Bright florescent dots, a different color
For each level.

Three thousand tests,
In a library of seven thousand books.
I walked round and round,
Hour after hour;
Picking books that go with tests–
Good books, silly books,
Books I wonder why there is a test,
Strong books, informative books,
Big books and little books.

Wit and wisdom, humor and sorrow,
The full panoply of life
Bound between pasteboard covers.
Some are bright with pictures,
Some are worn and dull with reading;
Some I’ve not yet read,
And some are old friends
I’m glad to meet again.
I wonder how hard it will be to share
All these wonderful books.

I wonder–if less than half have tests,
What will happen to those that don’t?
Will they languish on the shelves
Garnering dust and becoming
Home to spiders?

I wonder–will the children remember
Their library as a place of wonder?
Or will they remember it as
A place of torment, where
They acquired one more chore
To be laboriously done before play.

I wonder…