June 2015
I am a student at Westfield State University majoring in English and my dream is to become a librarian at the Library of Congress. Sometimes I wonder to myself, after reading a book for about seven hours straight, “what would I do if I was not a reader?” I have come to the conclusion that, were I not a bibliophile, I would most likely end up wasting my time in front of endless screens, ending up similar to the characters from Don DeLillo’s White Noise.
Binary Code
Words are the binary code of my life
I wake up and reach for cellular words
Check Facebook, Book Riot, and Epic Reads
The major dot-coms and pixels of my waking life
Sometimes I wish I had synesthesia
So I could see the words and taste the numbers
Let me be all the words
Oh please oh please let me be all the words that I can be
Sometimes it feels as if the vision is not equal to the talent
The people with the true talent do not have the vision
It is as if I am underwater gasping for air
Instead of water, words splash everywhere
Ruby words crystallize into nightmares
Rubies — such as cruelty
The world is but one big wordscape
Filled with shadows that follow us all around
Shadows — such as hatred
I read late into the night, until the words begin to blur
And my glasses start to droop down my nose
My bedroom starts to swirl
I’m cold as anyone could ever try to be
With the force of all these words
Pushing me into my dreams
Pulling me out into the world.
Author's Note: "Let me be all the words" (line 7) is a quote from a song by SYNAESTHESIA, a London-based progressive rock band formed in 2012.
©2015 Rebecca Berezin