The parchment will eventually go thin / you’ll brush it gently and yet it’ll tear / there’s no cure for the impending age / forget any chance of staying fair.
The text will creak from that binding / bring you back to what you know best / a childhood Bed, the Ocean, the Dog / and disappear yet again
to the flurry of pages you don’t bother to flip / each little line, something forgotten / but these things are not precious unless we say it's so.
When will you die? / does this stack hold the answer / or is it all a lie?
Lauren Elise Fisher (she/hers) is a writer and stage manager based out of Bridgeport, CT and holds a B.A. in Theatre Studies from the University of Connecticut. She has been published in the United States, India, and the United Kingdom; these publications include New Voices Magazine, CultureCult’s Spring Offensive anthology, Canyon Voices, Afterpast Review, Naked Cat Lit, Swim Press, Local Gems Press’ Connecticut Poetry Review 2023, and Quabbin Quills Our Wild Winds anthology. Keep up with Lauren on Instagram, Twitter, & BlueSky: @AllFishSwim.