My Transported Stage
Off an an adventure
A day of relaxing, a good book on hand
Off on an adventure, travelling the land,
It’s a mystery, as I turn each fragile page
The written word, my transported stage.
***
I gently peel back the tattered front cover
Hyped with excitement, what’ll I discover,
As I skim through the foreword’s content
And I dive on in, so I escape the present.
***
As carefully as possible I turn to the start
The pages old and yellowed, falling apart,
It is a well read book, I wonder it’s secrets
Loosing myself further without any regrets.
***
The story begins with games to be played
Throw the dice, there’s money to be made,
We have a winner folks, the man in black
Rakes in the pot, he keeps the entire stack.
***
The winner waltzes from the gaming table
Walking out the back to the livery stable,
The attendant brings him his black horse
The winner rides off, happily in due course.
***
Is that the end of this story, oh surely not
There’s got to be more, maybe a sinister plot,
I continue to read, pursuing the journey
The main character is an actual attorney.
***
He and his horse are heading to his client
To discuss his plea, but the client’s defiant,
My heart beating fast at the turn of the tale
The attorney promising the criminal no jail.
***
If he’d just plead guilty, it’s a minor crime
Sentenced to menial service to do his time,
Shipped to a lighthouse, a deserted island
On a Scottish shore, up near the highland.
***
A year saving ships from certain destruction
Good behaviour will see a slight reduction,
With his sentence completed, he’ll be free
No longer cited the government’s detainee.
***
I lower the book, wondering why he stalls
Maybe he didn’t commit the crime at all,
I guess time will tell as I steadily read more
If he is innocent surely there’ll be an uproar.
***
I find myself torn, the sign of a good book
I want to read more but I’ve dinner to cook,
It’ll heighten my anticipation so I will wait
To discover what will be the criminal’s fate.
****************************************
If you liked my writing, please click on the small heart underneath, near my name. Or send me a tip and let me know you enjoyed it.
****
Please click the link below my name to read more of my work. I would also like to thank you for taking the time to read this today and for all your support.
If you enjoy this piece, you may enjoy this one too.
Originally posted on Medium
About the Creator
Colleen Millsteed
My first love is poetry — it’s like a desperate need to write, to free up space in my mind, to escape the constant noise in my head. Most of the time the poems write themselves — I’m just the conduit holding the metaphorical pen.
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
Easy to read and follow
Well-structured & engaging content
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Expert insights and opinions
Arguments were carefully researched and presented
Eye opening
Niche topic & fresh perspectives
Masterful proofreading
Zero grammar & spelling mistakes
Compelling and original writing
Creative use of language & vocab
On-point and relevant
Writing reflected the title & theme
Comments (3)
Oh this is great. I'm glad I found it.
Nice one Colleen. Your poem so succinctly explains to non-readers why those of us enjoy reading. Well done and perfectly thought out.👍
Omg! I loved this! As you already know, I love escaping reality by reading a book. And just like in your poem, I love mystery thriller kinda genre. And I too lower the book to wonder about something that's happening in the book. And it frustrates me when I have to do something else so I can't find out what's gonna happen. The whole poem was so relatable and I loved it!