Water Damage Noted 06/24
An old lady enters, soak-dizzy,
puts her returned book on the trolley.
She’d not bothered to carry it in her bag,
barely shielded it with her coat.
The pages are wobbled, warped,
thin skin wrinkling in fast-forward.
Yes, it is a loss, and a waste, and an
incurring fine, but it also affirms
the turning earth, the clumsiness
of being alive each day, caught
in a sliding door.
Sylvie Jane Lewis writes fiction and poetry, and has an English master’s from Cambridge. Her work has placed in writing competitions (winner CUPPS Prize 2023, runner-up Sykes Prize 2023) and featured in various publications. Instagram: @sylviejanelewis. Website: sylviejanelewis.wordpress.com.