Breathe

Some people ask,
“Why do you read”
To which I reply,
“Why do you breathe”
And again they say,
“For it helps us live”
To which I said
“As reading does for me”   
And then they ask
“Aren't you being dramatic”
And I rely back,
“no, definitely not
For I do not lie
If books were not here
I'd have lost my ability to fly   
For books are passages
To any realm you choose
Stories from lives
We only wish that we knew
Each word like a bird          
Soaring through every page
Each chapter as a herd       
Of ideas being sprouted
Every ending a loss         
For it tells
The book is done
Then I lean back
And bring those words to life
Every character, every setting
Everything, bad or nice
I sit back in the quite
Hear the hush hush      
Of my mind
Silencing itself
And hear the brand new,
But familiar thought,
Telling me
I gotta find a book to read