6.

5.

The week-old corpse of a dead bird, curled up and stiff-backed under a bench.

4.

I feel adrift today. No matter what age I was born into it was bound to be the wrong one.

3.

I too wanted to see the path of truth extending from my lashes like a golden ribbon.

Catherynne M. Valente, from In the Night Garden

2.

WEL : WERE : HIM : YAT : WISTE : * TO : WHOM : HE : MIGTE : TRISTE

well for him who knows whom he can trust

Posy ring, England, c. 1300. Gold, inscribed in Lombardic capitals.

1.

The inescapable attraction of blank slates, clean notebooks, and empty spaces. The desire to fill them. The inevitable disappointment with the result, no matter the contents of the inventory.