A book goes out into the world...

An author writes a book but it takes a reader to bring a book to life. In honor of National Poetry Month, here is a poem by Billy Collins that speaks to the journey a book takes as it goes out into the world.

Envoy

Go, little book
out of this house and into the world,

Carriage made of paper rolling toward town
bearing a single passenger
beyond the reach of this jittery pen
and far from the desk and the nosy gooseneck lamp.

It is time to decamp,
put on a jacket and venture outside,
time to be regarded by other eyes,
bound to be held in foreign hands.

So off you go, infants of the brain,
with a wave and some bits of fatherly advice:

stay out as late as you like,
don’t bother to call or write,
and talk to as many strangers as you can.