The Eye That Prices the Soul You stand in front of a painting — let us say something old, something Italian, something that has survived

The Man Who Decided Who Mattered Imagine finding out that someone removed you from a photograph. Not that you were absent — you were there,

The Itch That Has No Name You are sitting in a room where nothing is wrong. The heating works. The light is soft. Somewhere in

The Man Who Could Not Stay You have done it at least once. You unpack a suitcase after returning from somewhere, fold the clothes back

The Man Who Walks Without Destination You leave the house without a reason. Not to buy anything, not to meet anyone, not to arrive somewhere

The Costume You Wore Before You Knew You Were Wearing It Before you understood what a story was, someone was already telling you one about

The Body That Would Not Stay Still You know the feeling of a body that will not cooperate. The cough that arrives at two in

The Mirror You Avoid in the Morning There is a moment, and you know exactly which one, when you catch yourself wanting something you are

The Mirror That Stares Back You catch it before you recognize it. A shop window on a grey afternoon, your reflection arriving half a second

The Weight of What You Cannot Forget You are sitting at the table and someone says it — casually, between the bread and the second

The River You Cannot Step Into Twice You are sitting on a platform bench and the train is eleven minutes away. You know this because

The Morning You Stopped Talking You paused. Not for long — maybe two seconds, maybe three — but you paused before sending that message, and