The Finnish Equivalent

The Finnish Equivalent to Book Worm is Chapter Maggot

By Abigale Tabor

and Brinna, you and I are fastly-festering friends. We are

French ink-drinkers, and while I prefer red, I know you 

prefer green, only because you stamp all of your books 

with a green ink so bright that I can’t avoid searching for it, 

yearning for it in books that are new— it is unmissable,

your name above a neatly centered line with flowers 

sprouting up, curling around your name like a hug. Flowers

so delightfully green that us, together, as Danish reading-

horses do, would eat them down until it was just you 

there, and me staring at you, taking ownership of every story 

that I will ever read. Croatians call people like you and me

page mages. Magicians—you, stamping all of your books,

even those you give away because the world must know

that these were yours (and really, they should, because you

have excellent taste and I also have excellent taste), and me, 

finding them all without trying. Now, I think this all must be 

a game without any set consequence, but in order to win,

I have to find every story you’ve left a part of yourself in.