My San Pedro Library: San Antonio, TX

James Higgins

March 17, 2024

It seemed like mine,

spent hours there, nice

place to be, out of the

summer heat, away from

the house & my sisters.

It was so long ago, I guess

I rode the bus there alone

age ten, maybe 12, woman

behind the desk was nice,

suggested books for me, like

Howard Pease’s The Tattooed

Man, sending me off to sea

on what he called tramp

steamers, with his hero

Todd Moran.

It seems as if I always left

that library with seven,

maybe eight books, no

shoulder bag though, so

maybe only three or four, but

I was back soon, hungry for

more & she always had

more to recommend.

Born in Abilene, James Higgins spent the first fifteen years of his life in Texas, living in San Antonio during the school year, then spending most summers with his dad in the little town of Merkel, where both his parents were born. Two different worlds, city life vs. small town.