Have you ever bought a book because the cover matches your aesthetic?

Maybe you look at the many hues that make up the title and think that would make a great coffee-table book. Well, that was exactly what went through my head when I first laid eyes on the popular poetry book, Falling Toward the Moon.

As humans, we have all heard the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Oftentimes this is referring to people rather than tangible books, however, no matter what it is we are talking about, we still judge things by their appearance nonetheless. 

That is why I bought the book Falling Toward the Moon; the creamy, tan tint of the cover contrasted by the black and white hand that appears to be holding a dusty, rose-colored moon. This was enough for me to buy the book, even if its only purpose was for display. 

Luckily for me, upon cracking open the spine of this beautifully covered book, I discovered it was so much more than a pretty face. 

With 232 pages of poems ahead of me, I made it a goal to read at least one every day. With each poem being no longer than twenty lines long, it was an easy task, and I often found myself making it through multiple pages before drifting off to sleep. 

Reading these short anecdotes before bed became my own ritual. Each poem was different, but each one held a lesson that needed to be shared.

The mass amount of poetry I read did not in any way deteriorate the impact each one had on me. Oftentimes lines such as, “the first half of your life you’ll spend acquiring wealth and social status, and the second half of your life you’ll spend learning how the first half of your life really meant nothing at all,” have stuck with me to this day–even though I read the line weeks ago. 

Poem after poem, the pages of this book imprinted on my brain, impacting my daily life as its words rang around my head like the lyrics of an overplayed song. 

On the backside of many book covers, you may find a short description of what the book is about. However, author Robert M. Drake took a different approach for this piece of writing and simply wrote another line of poetry on the back: “You must fall before you land,” placing it on the back cover to tease readers of the glorious content within. 

The minimalist and aesthetically pleasing cover mixed with the soul-touching poetry on the inside made this purchase well worth it. 

From teaching me that even if something has a pretty face–or in this case, a pretty cover–we should always dig deeper to find out what content is held within. To the beloved consistency of reading a mind-boggling poem once per day, Falling Toward the Moon deserves a spot on everyone’s shelf.