S > S's Quotes

“We all feel unhoused in some sense. That’s part of why we write.”
― Andrea Barrett

“Sorry about the blood in your mouth. I wish it was mine.

I couldn't get the boy to kill me, but I wore his jacket for the longest time.”
― Richard Siken, Crush

“Don't ask for guarantees. And don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were heading for shore.”
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

“One more thing before you
leave: once, I chose a man
because he looked how I imagine
you would now. Soft hair & a flat
smile. I asked him not to speak. I
asked him to slap me.”
― Hieu Minh Nguyen, Not Here

“I want to be a braver kind of meat
to say, show yourself & mean it
but how long have I prepared for the
dragon
only to run in the other direction.”
― Hieu Minh Nguyen, Not Here

“Again, Let Me Tell You What I Know About Trust

—not a damn thing. So let me tell
you what I know
about forgiveness—this joke can go on
& on, see?
I guess I'm trying to understand
what makes a man
carry guilt the same way he would a
bat.”
― Hieu Minh Nguyen, Not Here

“fr. 2
All We as Leaves
He (following Homer) compares man's life with the leaves.
All we as leaves in the shock of it:
spring-
one dull gold bounce and you're there.
You see the sun? - I built that.
As a lad. The Fates lashing their tails in a corner.
But (let me think) wasn't it a hotel in Chicago where I had the first of those - my body walking out of the room
bent on some deadly errand
and me up on the ceiling just sort of fading out-
brainsex paintings I used to call them?
In the days when I (so to speak) painted.
Remember
that oddly wonderful chocolate we got in East
(as it was then) Berlin?”
― Anne Carson, Plainwater: Essays and Poetry

“Those are my speed holes. They help me go fast,”
― Tamsyn Muir, Nona the Ninth