Anyone can enter a public library
there’s no fee, no ID required
There are places to sit
and clean restrooms

The stacks are mostly
quiet, especially fiction
W – Z is good for napping
until a page shows up

Even the employees
seem to understand
leave me nodding off
stack the books to shelve later

It’s warm in the winter
cool in the summer
safe and quiet
with running water

I can remember a time
when I used to read
as a child, books about
a snowy day, a tree that gave

so much of itself until
it was nothing but a stump
but still it had so much to give
a place to rest without judgement

[Prompt: Write from the persona of a homeless person]