Starving Spines

Pages turn thin, thin as the plot thickens Thinning knowledge as ignorance quickens Spines crack from hunger, hunger for minds Cracking under pressure of different kinds Books starve for attention, attention spans wane Starving for readers in this digital rain Covers collect dust, the dust of neglect Collecting cobwebs, respect they collect Words go stale, stale on forgotten shelves Staling wisdom as society delves Into shallow feeds, feeding on quick bites Feeding frenzy of memes and soundbites Chapters close, close before they open Closing doors to worlds unspoken Stories wither, wither on the vine Withering away, leaving no sign Libraries fast, fast from funding feast Fasting resources as budgets decrease Volumes shrink, shrink from public view Shrinking access to both old and new Bindings loosen, loosen their hold Loosening grip on tales untold Leaves fall, fall from tomes of yore Falling silent, voices we ignore Ink fades, fades like memories lost Fading faster at literacy's cost Margins narrow, narrow like our scope Narrowing pathways of reason and hope Bookmarks slip, slip from neglected pages Slipping away, the wisdom of ages Fonts grow small, small in our esteem Smaller still as we lose the dream Endings hunger, hunger for new readers Hungering for minds to be thought leaders Bibliophiles crave, crave the written word Craving stories waiting to be heard So let's feed these books, feed them our time Feeding our souls with rhythm and rhyme For books may go hungry, hungry for touch But starved of books, we lose so much Digest these words, words ripe with meaning Digesting slowly, our minds reconvening With pages that yearn, yearn to impart Yearning to nourish both mind and heart Let's feast on books, feast like they're our last Feasting on futures, presents, and pasts For in this banquet of bound delights We satiate our appetite for heights So don't let books starve, starve in the dark Starving for chances to leave their mark Feed your mind, mind the feeding call Minding that books nourish us all