Department of the Vanishing - Six Floors Down
Johanna Bell
On my first day they gave me a list 24 species in latin names descending the page I saw the mark for all the birds already gone
Aplonis fuscaEXColumba vitiensis godmanaeEXCyanoramphus novaezelandiae subflavescensEXDasyornis broadbenti litoralisEXDromaius novaehollandiae minorEXDromaius novaehollandiae baudinianusEXDromaius novaehollandiae diemenensisEXDrymodes superciliaris colcloughiEXGallicolumba norfolciensisEXGerygone insularisEXHemiphaga novaeseelandiae spadiceaEXLalage leucopyga leucopygaEXNestor productusEXNinox novaeseelandiae albariaEXNinox novaeseelandiae undulataEXPorphyrio albusEXPsephotus pulcherrimusEXRallus pectoralis clelandiEXGallirallus philippensis macquariensisEXRhipidura cervinaEXTurdus poliocephalus poliocephalusEXTurdus poliocephalus vinitinctusEXZosterops albogularisEXZosterops strenuusEX
Wandering fever-lit through floors of cassette tapes and microfiche foxing documents looping back through newspaper stacks tightly-bound weevil-proof string entangled for weeks in the mess of trails and decades of waste it took me months to find my way through the departmental labyrinth
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