Poem: "Ascension to the Atheneum"

This poem came out of the November 2012 Crowdfunding Creative Jam.  It was inspired by a prompt from wyld_dandelyon.  It also fills the "forever" square on my second card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest.  It has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette.

In the library there was a chain
hanging inexplicably in midair
with a sign on the end saying,
PULL

So the elderly librarian
pulled the delicate chain,
and an ornate staircase
folded down from above.

With it came a puff of warm, dry air
that smelled of summer sunshine --
though it was snowing today --
and also of books, very many of them,
and quite old ones from the spicy hints
of leather and parchment and antique glue.

The elderly librarian could not resist
climbing the steep scrollworked stairs,
and before long they let out into
a vast Library that stretched
from the circulation desk
as far as the eye could see.

Hypatia stepped out from behind the desk,
her dark hair fastened with golden combs
and her owl wings tucked against her white robe.
"Welcome to the Atheneum, where all
that has been written is kept safe forever,"
the Librarian said to the newcomer.
"I'm glad to see that you finally
made it out of the stacks!"