Why Do We Read What We Read?

Last night we talked about books.
When the subject was favorites,
The answers were all fiction.

When the subject was "most important,"
The answers were less conclusive
But, generally stated in categories.

The discussion is revealing because
It points to the desire, no, need,
For escape into that which stimulates

The imagination and offers vicarious
Existence in realms beyond
That in which we are now, or ever expect to be.

Though influences which shape us
Into what we are endure throughout
Our brief and flickering lives,

We hunger for something more, for
Something which transports us into
That for which we subconsciously sense we are made.

In the words of an old gospel song,
"This world is not my own, I'm just a passing through....