literature = everything

books in a bin
so many in the queue
can’t read them
as fast as I buy ’em
and yet I still want more
wanna borrow more
want to smell them more
want to feel their lovely weight
in my hand…
some days you want
a light skinny one — 
finish it in a week
other days I want some meat,
some heft
to get the biceps going
to keep me lost for months…
certain ones feel better
than others — texture matters
but not as much
as the richness of character
or the elegance of plot
I like voice,
first person flame
but third is good too…
give me all of it
to make my piles,
my stacks!
upon completion I brag!
like anyone even cares haha
like it matters worth a damn
who even reads, right?
you do
well, you better
if you’re here
then you know it
this literature thing
is everything

Notes:

This poem probably doesn’t need much explanation. It’s a simple tribute to literature. My love of books is strong. It’s one of the most important parts of my life. Without literacy—without the ability to read and write—life wouldn’t be as sweet.

What’s interesting, looking back, is that I didn’t always love reading. I know there’s some readers out there who hopped right out of the crib and started climbing the bookcase. Not me. I remember suffering through Lit class in high school. I somehow managed to do okay, but I always hated required reading.

I disliked being told what to read and when to read it and how to think about it. I think the way literature was delivered to me as a young student did not seem appealing. Much of the literary canon seemed dry and unrelatable to me.

I recall the desperation I felt, being unable or unwilling to follow the plot in certain texts. I found most dialogue to be stilted and outdated. I remember resorting to Spark Notes and taking whatever short-cuts I could find just to get by. Book reports—forget about it. Mandatory essays—ugh, please. Discussion groups—no chance.

I never would have imagined I’d become a writer, though. I never would have thought I’d embrace reading in the way I do now. Something changed in my early twenties. In college and then in graduate school you’re pressured to specialize. You find your subject, and then everything else goes out the window. Course requirements and focusing on your major means there isn’t much time to spend on anything else, especially not leisure reading.

So the idea of reading books that didn’t have to do with my studies was impractical. However, you guys know me—there’s just something about me that gravitates toward the impractical. I took to reading fiction as an escape rather than something I was forced to do. It became more of a guilty pleasure than an obligation.

I found myself reading widely and eclectically. Eventually I found my way to loving science fiction and fantasy. Anything psychological or speculative really got me going and opened up my imagination to the possibilities of life. But I also always had a fondness for the seedier side of the literary world as well.

Dirty realism, grunge lit, and other types of transgressive fiction and poetry appealed to me because of my socio-economic background and the place where I grew up. I saw myself in these pages. And I developed a particular fondness for stories told in first-person perspective.

Anything that sounded like another person was pouring the contents of their mind directly into my own—that’s the stuff that really resonates with me to this day. If the reading feels more like an intimate conversation than it does a homework assignment, then I’m in.

So yeah, that’s just a little bit about my history as a reader, and why I love literature so much. When it comes to entertainment, these days, reading really is everything. I find myself getting more out of a good book than I do from just about any other form of entertainment.

I still love movies, television, video games, and sports. But nothing takes me away or sweeps me off my feet like a compelling written narrative presented in a voice that speaks directly to me. That’s where it’s at. And it’s a love I hope to never lose.

A person’s favorite book(s) says a lot about them, I think. And I’d love to learn what my readers’ favorite books are