The Woman and Her Worlds

By Aubrey Lynch

A bookshelf sits under a window.

Its pages contain countries,

worlds,

universes,

and even entire dimensions.

The worlds between the pages

are as bright and numerous

as the stars in the sky

and loved with just as much variation.

A woman presides over the small library

like a goddess to all the fictional characters inside.

She could throw any of them into the fireplace

beside the bookshelf

or keep them dry but creased and crinkled with love.

Yet, she picks one and opens it tenderly

to drink in the world hidden in its pages.

A cat curls in her lap,

and a cup of tea with copious amounts of honey

steams sweetly next to her.

Outside, the wind howls and whistles

against a creaking house.

The characters act on, unaware.

She turns a page.

Aubrey Lynch ‘23 was born in Pennsylvania.