I used to love to read

It went hand in hand with to write

I used to love to lose sleep

Reading books all through the night

But now I don’t read as much

Even though I should

I love the stories I encounter

I find them really good

I find myself hesitating

To read something written well

Because every time I read something masterful

A bit of jealousy in me swells

Shannon Hale invents names with ease

Meg Whalen Turner holds you prisoner

Gail Carson Levine makes old stories new

They’re all actual finishers

James thinks and then makes you think too

Hannah W. writes sweeping poems

Sarah makes real life come alive

Anna’s page is like a second home

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote epic tales

C.S Lewis wrote for every age

Raymond Carver may not have written the best

But his style is beauty on a page

I could go on and on

I could whine and whine for hours

I could list everyone I’m jealous of

I could let it make me sour

Or I could instead just admire them

Without a hint of envy

I could go write and try to be like them

From them I’d learn and start improving