The Transformative Power of Story: A Poem About Escaping Into the Pages of a Book

By Hunter Grimm (2019)

The calm before the storm—
Ideas at a standstill.
Laying down all cozy and warm,
Ready for the book to give me a thrill.

I set the book upon my thigh
And reach to turn on the light.
With a twinkle in my eye,
I'm eager for my mind to ignite.

I flip it open—first page wide,
Release the words from where they hide.
The spine lets out a gentle crack,
As the imagery pulls me back.

The words begin to rise and breathe,
Permeating all beneath.
The outside world slips far behind—
The story and I become entwined.

The tale unfolds—freshly born,
Like dawn breaking through the morn.
My thoughts begin to stretch and feast
On every image just released.

Ideas spark and rivers flow,
My joy expands with every glow.
Creation chills me to the bone—
A journey I take all alone.

A good story casts its spell,
Like flowers that the bees know well.
Its words, a sweet and strange disease,
That freeze the world and put me at ease.

The book has more it longs to tell,
But for tonight, I bid farewell.
I close its pages, soft and slow—
Grateful for the path they showed.