Nerding Out for "Meditations"

This post is my entry in the Book Nerd Out giveaway hosted by Book Riot: Reviews, Recommendations, and Commentary about books and reading (but, you know, fun).

When I was studying my undergrad, I experienced the beginnings of what would become an existential experience. Many times I was confused and lost as I wandered around campus, since I was constantly deep in my thoughts. 

Then one day I discovered a copy of Meditations by Marcus Aurelius in the library. This book was instrumental in pulling me out of a dark place and my introduction to stoic philosophy. I wrote a poem this morning about that experience:

In the labyrinth of a library,

Sanctuary is a small hardbound work,

A dead emperor gives comfort,

Words sweet like the plumeria,

Musings echoed through millennia,

Brittle pages redolent of weathered wood,

Learning to live as bees that make honey,

My own place in the universe, 

Accepting what I cannot change,

White steps cradle and chill my legs,

A cosmos indifferent, 

My journey an empty canvas,

But I choose the colors for the paint.