READ HEAT (pronounced "Red") by Aulton Grubbs

 

 

When I go new places in books, it

builds a delicate fire, coursing through words

Kindling flickers fanned by language 

Feeling so much power in listening  

It is delightful, funny, and terrifying to read

Find your dazzling flames in books

 

Frodo mingles with the “Little Women” of Alcott books

Grapes of Wrath and Atticus chat a bit

The opioid kings should Jane Goodall read

“The Code Talkers” win with words

Lincoln, Kennedy, and Obama seem to listen

To the power of syntax and language

The wars are filled with bloody language

I can see them on my mind’s screen through books

Good sings in the end if you listen

I find power in the literature and the light is lit

My mind fiercely ignites in words

The fire, the power, the necessary. Read.

Young and old should read

The beautiful, glorious, assaulting language

You can learn, revel, and devote in words

Environmental challenges, classics, family books

Colors, animals, the universe and really all of it

Pour out your heart and listen. 

Death to books, they say. Don’t listen.

Censorship means death and...a must-read

Jealousy and vengeance can’t extinguish it 

When looking at language,

Compassion is found in new ideas in books

Remember the selflessness and kindness in words

Victory only if you trust words

Too dim were the days with picture books, I listened

The opinions were in real books

New ideas emerged when I really read

I have read coarse language 

And lovely words that together seem to fit

 

Listen to the calm and fury in books  

I can’t explain what words and language 

Can do, but you can read about it.