ONE FOR THE BOOKS

i had the strangest nightmare
and it really left me shook
i dreamed i was a bookmark
and my bed became the book

inside the book i felt entrapped
and i began to squirm
the book became an apple
and i found i was its worm

i finally found my way outside
but what a horror then
the apple, rotten to the core
turned to a book again

this book was joined by other ones
and though i turned to flee
they grabbed me by the middle
and they started reading me

they bent back all my pages
and they nearly cracked my spine
this went beyond perusing
for they read between each line

they soaked up all my knowledge
with a hungry fire that burned
they left me crumpled in a heap
with all they things they'd learned

right then, i opened up my eyes
and looked off to the right
a book lay on my nightstand
and i finally saw the light

i realized this book had caused
the terror i'd been through
i'd checked it out three weeks ago
and it was overdue