The books that took me from home
are carrying me back –
back to my Arctic bedroom
and the shelves where they were stacked.
I’m pressed inside them like a flower
or an earwig that got trapped.
My sister’s crying next door.
The dog’s mewing like a cat.
The spines are unbroken
and the covers free of dust.
I’m stuck there like a specimen.
It’s not yet me. It’s not yet us.
Blake Morrison is a memoirist, poet and critic. His new collection, Afterburn, will be published on 29 January by Chatto & Windus
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Illustration by Chris Riddell