Sarp Sozdinler

We take turns reading to it.
Mostly cookbooks.
Or the instruction manual
for a dehumidifier.

It prefers
the parts in italics.

At night, it dreams
of a smaller labyrinth—
just a single hallway,
with no decisions.

Sometimes it calls out
for Ariadne.
Sometimes Ikea.

We do not correct it.

 

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A Turkish writer & poet, SARP SOZDINLER has been published in Electric Literature, Kenyon Review, Masters Review, Trampset, Hobart, HAD, JMWW, and Normal School, among other journals. Their work has been selected or nominated for anthologies including the Pushcart Prize, Best Small Fictions, and Wigleaf Top 50. They are currently working on their first novel in Philadelphia and Amsterdam.