THE BOOKS

tell us how to live. 

Hundreds and hundreds of books

in the ‘Self Help’ section. 

Some of the books

have words like ‘rules’ in the title – 

‘The Rules for Life’;

‘The Rules for Relationships’.

Every author thinks they know the rules 

and that, with time and money,

we can learn the rules too. 

Without our time and money

we won’t know how to live. 

The books tell us we’re not happy, 

whether we know it or not. 

We need the books to put it right.

Some of the books disagree with each other;

some of the rules are in conflict. 

Perhaps we need to read all the books

to make up our own minds.

The authors would like that. 

Or perhaps we need to start

writing our own books.

Perhaps, with every step

through this story we call life,

we already are.