The other side of books

I like to get to work early,
and to read in the back.

There is this great
hustle and bustle
where
the day is going strong
and people are running around
and
I'm just sitting quietly
reading about Ernest Shackleton
navigating across the floes
or
soldiers in WWI
trying to encapsulate their experiences
in figurative language
People yelling about pizza
and
I'm with Bonhoeffer in his cell
awaiting execution by the Nazis
Preaching about Christian community

But slowly
as I watch the clock counting up
I have to part with these great adventures
and deal with my own reality
of washing dishes
at a pizza joint
that takes itself a little too seriously

All in all
it's not a bad life
but I wish
sometimes
I could be on the other side of the books.