Dive into the story of someone’s life
Who does not technically and realistically exist,
But may mirror the existence
Of someone walking the earth
Just miles away.
Hear the thoughts from a stranger’s brain
In your own mind, your own voice -
Not exactly how they imagined,
But just how they wanted:
Your own.
Allow the heavy blacks and browns
Engrained in aging yellow or crisp white
To spill your own thoughts onto paper.
Connect deeply to a simply complex
Combination of the same 26 letters
You see used every day,
And feel each aspect of the pages:
The devastation of a character
Pulling at a tragedy experienced yourself,
The twist of a built plot
Prodding at the daily confusion and pace you decipher.
Any betrayal, any celebration, any discovery,
A reminder of the ongoing elements of life
From fiction to reality.
Read, read, read.
Read until you have entered the minds of more people
Than you’ve met,
And have lived vicariously through enough
That you can decide which attributes are most admired;
Which lessons to learn from nonexistent friends
And what to be wary of, having seen an unraveling,
Thankfully not in this world.
Read until the binding of any book fits
The cradle in your curled fingers,
The ideas sealed inside waiting to challenge your own.
Read until you feel your thoughts and opinions stretched,
Made malleable and played with like putty
By the invisible hands that reach from the text to grab at you.
Read so that what is not offered in front of your eyes
By physical, tangible means in everyday life
Is at your every disposal through paper and ideas -
Accessible to you, having been accessible to others,
Long dead or somewhere across the ocean.
Read for intellect, read for insight.
Read for creativity, read for clarity.
Read for health and read for life.