A bookworm

Had a crazy idea.

He wanted to be clever,

Be admired at home.

So he ate his way

Through all the books on the shelf,

Whether novel, non-fiction,

Religious writing or poetry.

His aim was

To gain wisdom,

And to become smarter

Than everyone else.

After he had finished,

The worm burped loudly twice.

But–where was it

The wisdom he had dreamed of?

It became the bitter truth,

Browsing brought suffering.

The connoisseur of literature

Was taught a lesson.

For instead of gaining wisdom,

He went mad, schizophrenic.

If the worm had started better

With this poem,

Today he has to take colorful pills.

So every bookshop rat should know this:

More and more books

Are now contradicting each other.