By Myrna Moore
I loved you before I knew what you were and what you could be
It started small with words.
D O G suddenly became ‘dog’ that barking, running around – creature.
So that was the secret – words meant something.
I craved more and more of them
I just couldn’t get enough of them
I snatched them from newspapers, cereal packets, ingredients on cans,
advertising hoardings, anything bearing words was prey to my appetite.
Soon I would join the library – the world of books beckoned, and I entered.
Here I could escape, lose myself, float away to other worlds inhabit the skin of
other people.
Milly Molly Mandy with her candy-striped dress would eventually morph into
Anne of Green Gables leading me to The Secret Garden and from there I found
Heidi and Jane Eyre. Along the way Bunty and Judy intervened until I stumbled
upon Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
My daydreaming took a pause
Here another journey started.
Many years later
Despite a cull when we moved
We have book – cases in every room bar the bathrooms
Books I love you still.
Myrna Moore 2023