Somebody Circled This

by Rory · 23/02/2026
Published 23/02/2026 15:37

Found it wedged under the water heater,

a phone book, 2009.

The pages gone to yellow-brown,

the spine cracked down its line.


Someone had left their handwriting inside—

I found it while I packed to move:

a name in blue ballpoint, circled once,

the ink faded to a groove


around the edges. No note.

Nothing to explain the ring.

The column of names beside it

still intact, still everything


it was in 2009.

I don't know if that name is dead

or just unlisted now. I kept the book.

Set it in a box instead.

#anonymity #loss #memory #nostalgia #passage of time

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