Unicorn

I was told, as if it was a virtue,
that lots of kids have  
a collection of some sort.
I could never really decide
which thing I liked
so much more than all the others
that I wanted multiples of it.
But somewhere along the way,
someone decided it was unicorns.
 
I’m quite sure I never said,
“I want to collect unicorns",
but nevertheless, they accumulated
with no effort on my part.
Figurines, little painted boxes, jewellery…
Which one started it all?
I certainly don't recall.
 
Well… maybe it was that one
that was really my sister's –
the little pewter one,
rearing up and striking at nothing
with its solitary magical horn,  
its defiant muscular form  
and a touch of distant melancholy.
I adopted it
or maybe stole it from her room
when she went away to college,
leaving it and me behind.
I guess I figured it knew how I felt.
 
I'm not really sure
if it started the collection,
but I do know it was the only one
that ever really mattered.