Bibliobella the Comic Strip

Hanging inside Macrina Bakery
is a painting of a woman with bread
in her hair. She wears large gold earrings.
Her dark eyes are full of direct answers
and a new day's hot strike on the ocean.
Her first look is always out the window.

Late one night, when bread sponges rise, along
flies a worried woman behind the winged
wheel of a petite taxi cab. She's one
part Emily Dickinson one part
Tinkerbell. The Macrina painting winks,
shocks. The driver concludes her frantic search.

Imagine Mary Poppins in her cape.
Imagine Sophia Loren staring.
Imagine a mix of these two then welcome
Bibliobella, the SUPERHERO
LIBRARIAN. Freed from the dry confines
of canvas she scooters on a vespa
offering helpful hints about the card
catalog and best internet searches.

When alone she may remember basil.
When alone she wonders if first row seats
to Yankees games might be the better plan,
but what superhero doesn't daydream?
Her quest to save the world from apathy -
be Library of Congress champion.