By Julia Xiao

Reality I search to escape, literature as my destination,

And settings with characters exist, each appear word by word;

Mountains of emotions I can feel there, created like a nation,

And with fictional beings in a world so absurd.

For peace I shall have there, for peace that will send me soaring high,

Soaring through heartfelt scenes to peaceful reuniting;

There summer can soothe, and winter can pacify,

And spring comes again with faeries for sighting.

Reality I search to escape, climbing up from the dark,

I see beings of all kinds accompanying me there;

While I stand in the shadow, or in pits with no place to embark,

To a place I always know where