Bookworms | Teen Ink

Bookworms MAG

By Madeleine Barnes BRONZE, Wexford, Pennsylvania
Madeleine Barnes BRONZE, Wexford, Pennsylvania
4 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Boy walks, nose-deep into small print
of a yellow book, zig-zags down treacherous
levels of stairs as if only his feet
sense his whereabouts and ankle-up
the kudzu, the other worlds enchanted

anchor him. He reads as if studying
atom splits, enamored with their
sleepwalking between two beings
while classmates dart in and out of lunch lines,
pounding on vending machines. His thumb

makes an even cut into a chapter,
folding over the neatly typed tale, bells sounding
in their wary come-back-boomerang whistle
and a fissure halves his eardrum, his eyelashes
fall apart to the fluorescent quilted ceiling flickering

chalk-like shadows sprawled out on the cafeteria floor
and things like chocolate milk seem filtered from
dream-Bible text and although he is grateful
to be where he is, although he is grateful to touch
on the familiar, he cannot fathom

his own reactions to the real-life stories
where plots confuse at the hand of his author and
resolution never comes. So impatiently he drags a chair
out from beneath a plastic table, picks up where
he left off, remembers his place.



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This article has 91 comments.


casalej said...
on Oct. 22 2009 at 9:03 pm
Your poem was outstanding. Since my vocabulary is not very rich, i did not know of words like "fathom," but because of ypur excelent use of context clues I understood. I also like your writing because it expresses the show of how you can get lost in a book but no matter the place you must read. "He reads as if atom spits," was a very powerful statement about the boys intent reading.

Cady said...
on Oct. 22 2009 at 7:54 pm
I very much approve of this peace. You did great. Keep up with the good work.

on Oct. 22 2009 at 9:31 am
very_literary SILVER, Ballwin, Missouri
7 articles 0 photos 46 comments
I love this piece. That description totally fits me because as you can tell from my screename, I love fantasy. That's exactly how I am when I get hooked on a book. Great job. Keep writing!

on Oct. 22 2009 at 8:53 am
dylonmichael GOLD, El Dorado, Kansas
10 articles 3 photos 118 comments

Favorite Quote:
i have two one is "live life as if it were your last day on earth" and two is "never make some one your everything because when they leave you you have nothing"

i am forced to put it down i have school and play practice and now work grrr idk when i am ever going to finish it

Jazzzy517 GOLD said...
on Oct. 22 2009 at 8:42 am
Jazzzy517 GOLD, Meriden, Connecticut
17 articles 1 photo 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.

i read that book... its AMAZING!!!

it only took me 3 days.... i couldnt put it down

on Oct. 1 2009 at 8:46 am
dylonmichael GOLD, El Dorado, Kansas
10 articles 3 photos 118 comments

Favorite Quote:
i have two one is "live life as if it were your last day on earth" and two is "never make some one your everything because when they leave you you have nothing"

i agree 100% right now i am reading ink heart and it is getting good next i am going to read the last of the Eragon series i've read all the twilights (own the last one) and the harry potter series (own them all) and then after that i dont know what i am going to do

epingel said...
on Sep. 30 2009 at 3:12 pm
I very much liked this piece, I read books all the time and find it really enjoyable. I like how you said how "the other words enchanted him" I enjoy fantasy books too. A lot of people wont get how good books really are because they think they're weird or nerdy that only geeks read; I actually prefer books over movies and TV because you can imagine the character for yourself.

a+e.j. said...
on Sep. 28 2009 at 9:19 am
wow that was really good you should make more

on May. 21 2009 at 3:59 am
Twilightnme SILVER, Anchorage, Alaska
6 articles 0 photos 50 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You dont know what you have until its gone"

wow. this was amazing. I truly loved it! It engulfed me...

on May. 20 2009 at 11:17 pm
emofreak SILVER, Masury, Ohio
7 articles 0 photos 3 comments
you know its funny

cause its sooo true

when youre REALLY into a book

its EXTREAMLY hard to put it down!!! XD

i loved this poem

especially the way you have it set up...something about it

just really caught my attention.

G-R-E-A-T job!!! =D

on Apr. 19 2009 at 2:00 am
TheRealAriel1995 PLATINUM, Highland Village, Texas
30 articles 6 photos 203 comments

Favorite Quote:
"See in what peace a Christian can die." - Joseph Addison
"How come everyone will come to your funeral, but nobody will come see you when you are living?"

I LOVE BOOKS TOO! KEEP WRITING!!!

SarahNearol said...
on Apr. 3 2009 at 1:37 am
I adored this poem! It was amazing. It sorta described me, except I can read and walk without bumping into anything... but I can't walk without reading without bumping into at least 1 thing!!! But I still love this poem.

OneChance GOLD said...
on Mar. 20 2009 at 11:20 pm
OneChance GOLD, Westland, Michigan
18 articles 8 photos 55 comments

Favorite Quote:
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥be who YOU want to be, not what OTHERS want to see. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Wow im a bookworm too ive never tried to walk and read but i saw a girl walkin into the middle of the street and get honked at cause she wasnt warching where she was going.....im reading breaking dawn right now NON-STOP!!!!!

on Mar. 19 2009 at 12:40 pm
ElizabethS. PLATINUM, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
32 articles 0 photos 16 comments
I loved this, thank you for it. I'm a huge bookworm too, and almost always have a book with me, no matter where I go. However, I'm too uncoordinated to walk and read, though my brother tries it a lot. Thanks.

lostinbooks said...
on Mar. 16 2009 at 3:51 am
Love the poem. Getting lost in a book is such a wonderful thing... Don't you wish some of those stories were real? The best we can do though is just write about it. GO BOOKWORMS!

on Mar. 4 2009 at 8:08 pm
kissingdawn331 SILVER, Palatine, Illinois
5 articles 0 photos 60 comments

Favorite Quote:
"when your hourglass runs out of sand you can't flip it over and start again."(changes weekly so check next weeks l8er)

i am also a bookworm...I agree that it's the best medication for reality...head in the book. It's ok to escape reality for a little while...but always remember (no matter how much it sux) to come back... i learnt that from mistakes.. gr8 poem

on Feb. 28 2009 at 10:40 pm
EternityBroken GOLD, Hooker, Oklahoma
17 articles 2 photos 28 comments

Favorite Quote:
It is impossible to love and be wise.

i am a bookworm and this poem portrays me perfectly. some would find this insulting, but i find it inspiring. life for some given in few words, but as detailed as possible. i absolutely love this poem

joemama said...
on Feb. 27 2009 at 5:08 pm
I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooovvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeee this poem and every poem

on Feb. 26 2009 at 9:21 pm
amanda morales BRONZE, Kissimmee, Florida
1 article 0 photos 1 comment
i am definitly a bookworm. and when i am into a chapter i do that same. walk with my book and then close it when i sit down i open it agin and then start all over! i love it!

on Feb. 17 2009 at 7:51 pm
TigerLily212 GOLD, Aliquippa, Pennsylvania
13 articles 2 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
"In the end we're all lines on the concrete drawn only to be washed away in the time I've been given I am what I am." - Never Enough by Five Finger Death Punch

I'm a bookworm but this poem didn't really offend me i mean i actually liked it. reading a great esacpe from reality so i usually have my nose in a book =)