When I Came Back Later, the Book Was Gone

by | Dec 13, 2022 | Issue Thirty, Poetry

It belonged in a curiosity cabinet, between a homunculus skull and philosopher’s stone, not on a
bottom shelf of the school library. It was blue, untitled, and full of cryptozoological sketches of
deep-sea creatures. It was, I thought, the most important discovery I’d ever make, but I didn’t
know what to do with such power. I checked out The Unicorn and the Lake instead, the same
book I checked out every week. The ending was the same each time, the unicorn retreating into
the mountains and the animals forgetting their common language. Maybe I’d be a different
person if I’d taken the blue book. Maybe I wouldn’t have walked away from you.

Read more Issue Thirty | Poetry

Or check out the archives

Pin It on Pinterest