Pencilled annotations
in a paperback
of H D’s Trilogy:
‘Ancient Egyptian city’;
‘Ruins of Egypt compd to London’;
‘Rediscovery of ancient truths.’
In the handwriting,
the dot over each “i”
is far above and adrift
from the vertical
like a toy balloon
or a distant moon.
The letters lean
and curl like wands,
scythes, cobra shapes.
Mark Valentine
.