While I was reading,
it struck me.
This book of words, my book,
was watching me,
quietly observing my every sigh and microgesture,
my absorption, excitement or dismay.
Softly bound, it loved when I held it in my warm hands,
and burning with curiosity,
it read me, every chapter and leaf of me,
saw what was within myself.
My turning pages, blinks of its eye,
the bookmark, a promise to return.
And when I did, it said, in a papery thin voice,
"I will forever be your mirror."
ILLUSTRATION CAMILA HAMEL 2023