When We Were

by Diana Elliot Graham

Some people find pen annotations in books to be sacrilegious, others treat them as gospel. To me it feels like the most intimate way to read. Like a blood oath between reader and book. The book gives of itself so selflessly with the printed words, as the reader takes them page by page. The notes I leave written in the margins are my exchange, a way I can return to the pages that have given me so much of themselves.

“I won’t need to keep score to know if I’ve won, because if I walk away from this table knowing you more than I do now, it won’t matter how many points I have.”

What are you doing, Arden? Say something back. He might be roaring the loudest, but he isn’t the lion here. I am.

“I’ve never had to get out of bed to find something I wanted to eat.”