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I found an old b/w photograph tucked into the copy of One Secret Thing (a poetry collection by Sharon Olds published in 2009) that I borrowed from the library the other day. The photo is obviously old, and rather battered and crumbled, as though its been carried around in someone's pocket for years.

It shows two young men, when smart suits, shirts and ties, starting solemnly at the camera. They are seated against an interior wall, wood panelled at the bottom and (papered? plastered?) at the top. I guess they would be in their late 20s, and the picture strikes me as being from the late 50s or early 60s. I don't see a familial resemblance, so I'm guessing they're friends or distant relatives; cousins, perhaps. The man on the right has his arm around the man on the left, who has his arms on his lap, clasped, with one finger pointing forwards. He looks sombre, as does the right-hand man, but in a way suggestive of a suppressed smile.

I thought - someone must have been using this as a bookmark; it must have great sentimental value to them. It could be their dad, or their brother, or their husband, or an ex or ... or...

Then I thought - but hang on, if it was of such sentimental value, why use it as a bookmark, and why then leave it in the book when taking it back to the library?

I wondered if someone was making a statement. The poetry collection is part of a cycle about families, and this strikes me as a family photo.

Maybe the owner left the photo in the book deliberately, wanting it to be found and returned to them? Maybe they don't know where it is and have been looking for it for this whole past year... Maybe they attached some significance to be being found and returned to them and have been waiting in vain...

I felt like I was prying, looking at this photograph. I felt I should put it away, take it back to the library and say 'didn't you find this - you must reunite it with its owner!' But then I saw it was last borrowed over a year ago and thought 'well if the owner can't be bothered...'

I shouted out to my partner about the old photo in the book and he came rushing in to see what I was so excited about. When I told him he said, ‘Oh, I expect you’ll write about this now then.’ And then left.