A Good Book

I just want to read a good book,

To make all of this go away.

I don’t want to be the main character anymore,

Or a static one standing on the side,

Unsure of what to do.

 

But it must be a good book; no,

A great book;

To get me out of here.

 

I need seas filled with subtle metaphors that hit

Upon reflection,

Catapulting me beyond this cage,

Getting into another character’s head

And back again.

 

I’m not looking for a happy ending,

Just a book that helps me forget,

And remember. 

Reviews

[A.H.]

this is so powerfully expressed. a good book, certainly you can be lost in it and who knows discover yourself as well sometimes i think. i read this poem like a story that is unfolding before eyes and saying what it had to honestly express. some lines though talk about sadness and finding freedom here but I sense a positive hope to break the shackles and be free. very well written poem, thanks for sharing, Amanda.

[Pete]

it's so nice to put a bookmark in our lives and get lost in someone else's book - a great escape. not so easy to write our own all the time. nicely said.

[Chris Shaw]

You can certainly lose yourself in a good book Amanda. Sad though that you are doing it to escape from hurts in the real world. Sorry. You penned this poem well.

Chris

[jacob erin-cilberto]

A really good book that is not just escape but interpretive will take us into another character's broken dreams and away from ours, at least for the duration of the read.
This is such a good poem...Perfectly worded with deft touch.
j.

[Stella Armour]

"Cider with Rosie", by Laurie Lee.
Rather english for an american but if you teach english you may well enjoy this classic.

[Ookpik]

I know the feeling, Amanda - I teach as well, high-school though. For some reason teaching a subject makes reading new material feel a lot like work. I've been reading Atwood's 'A Handmaid's Tale' but I can't seem to go through it without thinking about ways to deliver it in class.

That said, it's a tall order you given us here, but:

- 'Monkey Beach', Eden Robinson - a novel about a Haida woman on Canada's west coast, beautiful, but tremendously sad.
- 'An English Patient', Michael Ondaatje - another Canadian author, layered narrative w/multiple POV's, again stunning prose (that might be a winner for you).
- 'Sonny's Blues', James Baldwin - a short story set in Harlem about a jazz musician/addict and his brother, phenomenal.

I've got others, bangers all, but I figured I'd contain my suggestions to three. : )

Wish you luck on your quest!

-Ook

[Amanda Reynolds]

Thank you Ook, I will absolutely check these out! The problem is that I recently read "Frankenstein" by Mary Shelly, and everything else since then is just okay. Thanks again for your suggestions and feel free to send more ;)

[Ookpik]

Hehe. The Promethean Man, a classic. : )

Will do!

[emmajoygreen]

Sad, so very sad, yet finely written. If fiction, your poem has amazing powerl if it is not, you're welcome to message me privately. Take care of yourself. Please

[Amanda Reynolds]

Thank you so much, it is a mixture of both, as life and writing often is, thank you again...