Whatever you do, dear friends,
Do not let life live you;
Do not forget to take greedy breaths each morning
and come home each night to the smell
of everything you once dreamed of.
Life is short,
and it is yours.
Spend your days in the pages of far away castles
with brave nights, fiery dragons, wicked wizards,
whatever you please,
whether it be on a ship sailing west
or the antebellum South.
Wear a scarlet letter.
Shove Juliet’s dagger into your chest.
Eat dinner in a hobbit hole.
Suffer the unspeakable grief of the long forgotten wars.
You can travel all the way around the world
and back to where you are sitting now.
But, books,
they will take you farther than your own wildest fancies.
They will expand you,
and they will land you
where you never thought you’d be.