I always think the cover of
A book is like a door.
Which opens into someone’s house
Where I’ve not been before.
A pirate or a fairy queen
May lift the latch for me;
I always wonder, when I knock,
What welcome there will be.
And when I find a house that’s dull
I do not often stay;
But when I find one full of friends,
I’m apt to spend the day.
I never know what sort of folks
Will be within, you see;
And that’s why reading always is
So interesting to me.
Annie Fellows Johnston (1863-1931)
THE POETRY PLACE 