Poem – Lion’s the Guardians of Libraries and Knowledge

Patience and Fortitude stand at the gate.
They are the protectors of knowledge and defenders against hate.
These are the names of the Lions at the Library.
They protect those who know knowledge is sanctuary.

I walked past them in New York, many times.
They gave me strength and hope, oftentimes.
In 1911 they began their quest.
To protect knowledge for even the hard-pressed.

In Egypt, lions guarded the power of the Nile.
Without her waters, their lands would not be fertile.
Lions were deities and protectors of mankind.
They had the power to heal the blind.

That blindness was ignorance, and they showed the way.
Away from those that wanted to keep some in dismay.
They drive the chariots of Goddesses into the sky.
They will be with me when I too will die.

They are the symbol that I reach for to find power in grace.
They are what I see when I look in the mirror at my face.
They show me that I can do anything if I am willing to try.
And I hope they show me the path that will allow my soul to fly.
~Suzanne Wagner~