Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Vol. 120, No. 3 & 4. Whole No. 733 & 734, September/October 2002

Book Worm by Katherine H. Brooks

On a library floor there’s a ready store

Of KNOWLEDGE, in stacks and pits,

And Natalie swore that she needed MORE,

To cope with a world of TWITS.

Said Frank, “I fear that the little dear,

Who gazes askance at me,

Is convinced no peer or acquaintance near

Is remotely as smart as she.”

Each day in the library hallways dank

Lurked Natalie, morn and night.

She complained to Frank that his dinners stank,

And that husbands do nothing right.

And the long years passed till the die was cast,

When her temper emerged full-blown.

Frank felt he should, for his future good,

Check the library — on his own.

So he cased the joint for a vantage point,

Climbed high to a ladder top,

And with furtive looks through a pile of books, Saw Natalie browse, and stop.

There are things you’ll need if you plan to read—

Or for people you’re aiming at—

And he gave a shove to the pile above,

Which dropped like a bomb on Nat.

What a sad display on the floor that day

With Britannicas scattered free!

While Natalie lay like a blob of clay,

Spread loosely from A to Z.

And Frank gained grace, and acquired some space

Through his devilish deed. He smiled

As he filled his face at a fancy place

With the loot from the suit he filed.