The Resurrection of The Body and The Ruin of The World Quotes

“Here is the topography of false starts. Here
a whole constellation is lousy with desire.
Here what passes for love is the same
as anywhere. Here no one has said
a prayer for the stars, and here no one
comes, except to leave, except to stay
long enough to bruise.”
― Paul Guest, The Resurrection of The Body and The Ruin of The World

“Tonight, after love–
and what is a night without it
but darkness,
and what is love without this night
but more darkness?–
I will sing to you.
I will recite to you
the genealogy of shadows,
revealing the ease of their coupling
and, in turn, our own,
softly attended by
the lustrous choir of fireflies
outside our window,
who wait for a word
to rise and take wing,

— Paul Guest, from “Small Wonder,” The Resurrection of the Body and the Ruin of the World: Poems (New Issues Poetry & Prose, 2003)”
― Paul Guest, The Resurrection of The Body and The Ruin of The World