just one book

Janet Kuypers
1/28/17

I wore my older sister’s communion veil
playing dress-up in my imaginary wedding.

I read my older
sister’s prayer book
wondering who can hand me my answers.

But mangled in a maelstrom of religions
I was left lost, searching for salvation.

after years ticked by, it was only then when
my Judeo-Christian boyfriend gave me a book.

It didn’t quite fit in with his beliefs,
but he told me to give it a read.

Now, I remember reading books
where I’d have to tell myself to read

fifty pages a day, so I could get through it,
and after reading any passage, I honestly

couldn’t even tell you what I read.
But this book, this book was like not other,

it spoke to me philosophically
and it managed to show me how to live.

*

You didn’t think you could get so much
from just one book, and it’s true, afterward

I swooped up as much reading on the subject
as I could. And it still stuns me that just one book

could put me on a track to how to think
through life, because suddenly all my reasoning

made sense. With this one book I learned
how to fit the pieces together, and suddenly

my life made sense. I didn’t think
that just one book could do that to a person,

but I am a living testament to the message.
And like I’m putting my hand on a Bible

I’ll swear to this day that just the right book
in just the right hands of just the right minds

can really give the world clarity
and transform everything perfectly.





 

 



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