Poem by Misha Agunos, Grade 8

Portals
acquired from various shops,
as gifts,
ordered
it matters not where they came from
but where they take me
some oft used
others, roads less traveled
All my favorite

Exploring the countless realms
since before my public education
leading me to another world
not only telling,
but showing
Narration
accompanied by continuous acting
stripping away all earthly ties
with but a few sentences
spiriting me away
past the worries of man
to a benign, alien haven
past the simple,
day-to-day commonness
making me ride
side-by-side the characters
on the very same
rollercoaster of emotions
in the park of the story
each event a curve
or loop
or stomach-wrenching drop
every phrase painting a new scene

through the brushes of suspense, romance, horror and countless others every setting whole, fully thorough down to the individual grains of sand or single blades of grass devouring chapters in the light of the midnight oil with the same curious passion that compels astronomers, archaeologists,
and treasure hunters
to make the planetarium their dwelling for days on end
to spend weeks in the depths of the middle of nowhere
to endure months in sweltering jungles swarming with exotic, deadly beings satisfying my voracious hunger for complexity pure ecstasy nourishing my exhausted mind as it dives into the sea of words feeling waves of content as its waters gently lap at the shores of my |
intellect
and become immersed in the ocean between its covers
engulfed in fires of is pages
enveloped in the pockets of temporary, fictional bliss

THIS
is my ode
my thanks
to the indulgence
of books