Lindsay Holeman lives and writes in New Jersey, where she is a teaching artist at Fresh Theatre Arts. She has published poetry in Passages in Time and Sensations Magazine. 

Let’s Away
By Lindsay Holeman

Huge windows offer a view of the surrounding woods
and bring in plenty of light to the room.

I inhale the welcome smell of dusty books,
a mix of perfumes, and new ideas being born.

I kneel before the vast shelf full of
worlds, quietly waiting to be discovered.

Closing my eyes, I feel a gentle breeze
and a shiver of excitement.

I hear a page turn and the
humming buzz of an air conditioner.

I open my eyes, take one off the shelf,
and hold it in my hands.

I run my fingers along the
spine’s smooth bindings.

The weight of it in my hands,
the power of it.

It’s been too long since
I came over here.

Since I entered this
extraordinary place.

Let’s away to the Shire
With its soft rolling hills.

Forests with golden treetops
That were kissed by the sun.

Off to the realm of Rivendell!
Where harps gently play.

Shall we return to a certain
little house on a prairie?

A place where we can explore
the mid-western frontier?

Afterwards, we can join Babar the Elephant
as he leaves the jungle for the first time.

Next, we’ll travel to Green Gables
and visit Anne and her friends,

We’ll laugh with relief when a cat named Dusty
finally makes his way back after all.

Then we’ll have tea with Matilda and Miss Honey
in a sparse cottage with a lovely garden nearby.

The hedges are full with blackberries and
sweet-smelling hawthorn blossoms.

As we stop for a rest, Miss Honey will teach
us about chestnut, sycamore, and oak trees.

Let’s away to Hogwarts where
Adventures await us

And we are protected from
The dark magic outside.

Relax in the room where
Corduroy first made a friend

and knew he was finally
in this safe place called Home

Let’s away to the patch of
Raspberry canes

Where the Boy played
with an old velveteen rabbit.

Let’s return to the moment
When he realized he was Real.

While away your days here.
These worlds are precious.

Stay here in this land,
It’s healthier for your soul.

It will sustain you in
an unexpected way.

Forget the world you left behind,
Lengthen your days here

Until the division between
fantasy and reality are

like loose stitches from a quilt,
soft and easily ripped away.

There are new worlds to discover
tomorrow.