Roberta Beary

The Story of the Woman in the Poster

Virginia Wolf 1927. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Virginia turns on the gas lamp as dusk settles on cobblestones. She moves to her window-seat, watches the fairies dancing in the blue flame. She doesn’t question what she sees. The time for questioning passed 10 days ago. When the voices came back. She prepares her writing instruments and paper. No need for further discussion about her state of mind. No need for Leonard suggesting she try a new treatment. For what can’t be cured or endured. Always a careful writer, she spends the next hour composing the letter to her husband. She signs it with her familiar flourish, dotting all three i’s. Then wills herself to stare at the fairies, dancing in the flame. But the letter won’t let her be. Virginia feels its weight in her pocket, as heavy as a bag of stones.

riverwalk—
the white space
between words

---

About the Author

Roberta Beary is the haibun editor of Modern Haiku. Born in Queens, New York, they identify as gender fluid and divide their time between USA and Ireland. Their fourth collection, Carousel, is forthcoming from Snapshot Press.