sleight of hand

I try and find salvation in the pages of books

The only time I can breathe
is when I'm somewhere else
somewhere else
anywhere but here

I find freedom in book stores
all the stories make me feel alive
though I can never hope
to read them all
they offer the potential of new worlds
I haven't yet considered
and old worlds I have yet discovered

If I lived forever I couldn't hope
to contain them all in my soul

They are so much more interesting
than my story
with its demons of weakness
and fake smiles
taking up more of my face than I'd like

If I have a sin then it is Pride
I hate to admit that I was wrong
and that my own story
holds more illusions and sleight of hand
than a magician in an imaginary circus
in a far away land in a time long forgotten

I try to find salvation in some else's stories
and for a time I can

My own story holds no words
I want to share

(C) Indie Adams 2021