My mind is empty and I feel the need to sow new seeds
Never satisfied no matter how much I read
I browse these inklings with wonder
Holding every word for good measure
Because skimming always seemed defiling
Stripping you of the respect you deserve
But also stripping me of the opportunity
To see the meaning behind your words fully

I cannot say my awareness is heightened enough
To truly sink you in
But I want to try to absorb you
And breath life into your stale skin
I find so much beauty in literature
The lust for it is hard to remove
I sometimes devour you with too much haste
Letting some of your wisdom go to waste

As profane and disturbing as your ideas can be
Your consciousness comforts me
You are always there for me in times of need
You keep me company during anxious and sleepless nights
You distract me from my hell-bent self-destruction
As my analytical side puts me in a straight jacket bind
And the beginning of tomorrow weighs heavy in my mind
You take me away to experience different thoughts
Show me the world through fiction and teach me fancy diction
As well as enlighten me about culture, history, science and philosophy
And catch me up on the news and political hypocrisy

I hang on to you more than I ought to
But I lose interest sometimes in your tedium
You protect me from my reality
And always give me something to think about
But sometimes I need to live my life
And reverberate your magnificence in my own way
Instead of hide behind your cover

But there are times you bind my attention with every line on your spine
And I lose myself in you
I observe the way others have loved you
Weathering you with light
coveting you
braking you in
taking you to places you've never been
And you encourage me to do the same
Learn what I can while we still have time to spend
And enough interest to come back time and time again

I value these pieces of your mind
Splattered out in the lines
It fills me with inspiration
But I am impatient
Childishly demanding the wisdom of the world
To be imprinted in me instantly
So I devour your writing greedily
My lust for you and only you is insatiable
But I cannot commit to anything for long
I begin and you end
despite this break up we'll always be friends

I still scatter my attention
and I find myself seducing and perusing every book I see
Superficially accepting the flattery of imagery it imparts on me
I've spent so much time seeing things at face value
But now I want to see the deeper implications
The origin of these thoughts and feelings
And I don't need to possess you
But I do find the need to collect you
As well as share my love of you to the world

I try not to judge a book by its cover anymore
I want to see both sides to every story
I want to wipe my life clean of opinions and subjectivity
To open my heart and mind to new possibilities
Develop my intellect like Fitzgerald
So I can entertain two contradicting ideas simultaneously
And accept each one equally

My quest for knowledge
Has been more about the destination than the journey
And I now see my destination has never been definite or outlined anyway
you help me explore what lies within the interconnectedness of all existance
and this journey will never end
no matter how useless it seems to be
You force me to keep me on my feet
and help me push through the wayward bends