The Book of Goose

by Yiyun Li

Why weren’t you born more useful, like a honeybee?

When you are used to the sharpness of a knife, you can safely run your finger along the edge or press your palm onto it with just the right pressure. You can even keep the blade between your teeth without cutting your lips or tongue. But what if you touched the blade and felt the soft silkiness of a rabbit pelt?

But my homesickness was not about home. I was missing not a place, but a person.