48 hours to go

Read
by Ann Turner

Do you remember
learning to read?
That book full of squiggles
like ants, escaped.
the teacher's big thumb
on the page,
your heart beating inside
afraid that all you'd ever see
was ants---
Then a word popped out.
"See," and another, "cat,"
and my finger on teacher's
we read "I see cat."
I ran around the room
so happy I saw words
instead of ants.

This is the sorting area for the Book Sale. A hive of industry. The Sale opens in 48 hours and many tens of thousands of books are already on the shelves waiting for the general public to crowd in and buy them all.

(Molly said last week she wanted to drive over here with a van load of books. Oh dear..)