There is lightening between the covers of this book. Every time I read it again I am struck by something I missed, or struck again by something I can't shake.

I'm a collector. I have more books than walls so every room in our house is a miniature library. Of course, like all good stewards, I have my quirks... and the most stringent rule is to never break a spine. They always look new and enticing, as if they are all still untapped wilds waiting to be explored. I pride myself on the control of reading through a book without ever opening it wide enough to crack. When it came in the male I was thrilled, turned it over on its side and smiled. Andrea Gibson You Better Be Lightening Button Poetry tucked into the stars of a pristine, night sky spine.

I carried it around for a few days, peaking now and then, choosing a poem at random...I think I broke their record for goosebumps on the first day. This morning I sat on the back porch with my Saturday morning coffee and the last nasty habit I can't quite shake, finally able to read it from cover to cover, page by delicious page. I was so lit by the words echoing off my heart I couldn't bear to set it aside, even to reach for the coffee... without hesitation I balanced the precious book in one hand, using two fingers on either side of the spine for balance, I slipped the other two fingers inside and with my thumb as leverage, opened it wide.

It happened with a cloud of smoke ringing my head while I breathed over the steamy cup, sighing at the lightening flash of insight into my crippling time traveling addiction. I don't know if I felt it or heard it... you know how it is when you twist your body some way and something happens in your back, something so subtle you aren't even sure how you know...and for an eternity of a second you're hovering on the edge of pain and relief.... is it broken?... or is it just a feel-good crack back into place?...

Devastation washed over me, and like my life flashing before my yes I traveled back 20 years, my 30-something-year-old self, smiling through the back breaking weight of an untenable situation, waiting to steel moments of escape between the pages of a book, and the fantasy of a world where spines are never broken.

Lightening

I wandered into the house in a haze and found myself on the floor my office holding one of the only books in my collection that is ... marred... I’ve had it since I was 12. A wonder, an age-inappropriate treat, taken from a woman I babysat for... It’s damage suddenly looked like the art of love... white lines of use running up and down the spine, scars I created with careless abandon as I whipped myself into a frenzy of forbidden knowledge and ideas. ... Somewhere along the way, I stopped having enough gratitude for simply living to Truly love, and indulge in, a good story... I think this cracked spine is just the beginning of finding something I lost within myself a long time ago.

I hope others, who need it, will read this book and find the courage to stop fearing the storm and just decide to be the lightening....

Thank you Andrea Gibson, your words are reaching people in a way you might never have imagined.

Brand	N/A
Rating	4.8 (662 ratings)
Price	$16.12
Category	Literature & Fiction

You Better Be Lightning (Button Poetry)