hellopoetry.com/collection/20186/years/
A boy looks down and sees his body
Being tossed away in a shallow river
He cannot move and he's in shock.
What happened? He can't remember.
There's a bright flash―unexpected, sudden
―and heavy hands on his shoulders.
Was there pain? There was some,
And there was the taste of anger.
He doesn't know what to think, confused
When his body settles in shallow water.
He gets up with ease. *With ease?
What comes next fills him with terror.
His body is still, bloated and pale
But he's standing. Over his body he towers.

Story after story
Displayed on stories upon stories
Of multiple library floors
In large spacious rooms

Levels of fiction
Nonfiction
Mystery
Poetry

On and on they go
Lined on shelves dauntingly high
Or Child-level low
Artful as featured works in museums

We congregate with hushed voices in examination
Yet we can touch them
We are invited to
We can reach out and remove a piece of history

From the ancient days of scrolls
To the modern pages
We pull them from their places
To discover the wonders within

Sharing in the joy that emanates
From the joining of imaginations
A connection so powerful
It unites the hearts of strangers

We lose ourselves for hours
In our favorite chapters
With our beloved characters
Whom we come to love as precious friends

Reading ignites the imaginative powers of the self
And it all begins by pulling a book off of a shelf

any word
she sent her roots into my spring
it took sweat and days of work
to cut her down

for me to ***** out
of her limbs
take her naked winter
around

to the side of the river
overlooking the valley below
many days of toiling sweat
to work and tame her

split her hew and splice her
into my roof my walls my shelter
place her pieces as rafters to hold the
cold out the rain at bay

she never cried, nor protested
I felt like I was ****** nature.
She made me home.

Quiet mind, immersed
in palest, warmest yellow.

Molecules within
find alignment
with infinity.

Silvery mercurial fluid
paints my bones
with gentle light.

You have come back.

Abundantly, warm salt
water envelopes me.

Even in this chair,
in this empty room.

On dry land.

My words are but a shooting star
To be seen in all its glory
But as shooting stars fade in an instant
So do my words to be read once
Then fade into obscurity

Keep your cool
Put that smile on
Play it straight
Keep your head up
Let out some laughs
The sun still shines
Go ahead & cry
The moon settles your mind
Soon everything will be alright