How to (Un)cage a Girl Quotes

“...choose to believe in your own myth
your own glamour
your own spell
a young woman who does this
(even if she is just pretending)
has everything....”
― Francesca Lia Block, How to (Un)cage a Girl

“My mother said, "kiss him, darling, it's easy so natural" and I thought to myself, not with lips of stone, dear mother, not with lips of stone”
― Francesca Lia Block, How to (Un)cage a Girl

“for frail but surprisingly strong fairies who had lost their way above ground
for burned mermaids and sick vampire girls
for wild wolfish women with sharp teeth and leaves in their hair”
― Francesca Lia Block, How to (Un)cage a Girl

“how to (un)cage a girl

longer hair bigger breasts smoother skin
flatter stomach whiter teeth smaller nose
if you worry enough you won't have time
or energy to see
what really is

what could i have learned
if i didn't live here in this cell?
where could i have flown?
how would i have grown?
if i forgave this shell?

oh, my body
let me cradle you like my girl's
her long limbs spilling over
or folding up like silk
her gold-tinged curls
ringleting my fingers
her eyes the blue of sorrow
and hyacinth

oh, my body
when you are at peace
rocked here to sleep
as if by a mother
as if by a lover
who sees your flushed skin
the grace that you're in
the gleam of your hair
the green of your stare
then this soul can fly off
to understand pyramids and time
history
electricity
technology
symbology
that all of us are one
that all of us are love”
― Francesca Lia Block, How to (Un)cage a Girl

“believe him when he tells you you are beautiful
it will only hurt you both not to
(it is true besides)”
― Francesca Lia Block, How to (Un)cage a Girl

“valentine

my friends stitched it up with golden thread
like a red
satin pillow they gave me other whole ones too
roses and charms and red candles
milagros to repair the real one
they told me i was no longer allowed to give it away
a pretty pin cushion
a piece of mexican folk art
a hundred beating poems left unanswered
like a thing to wear around the neck
they said you must heal we will protect you
but i sat weeping at the computer forging ahead anyway
with the small stitched thing struggling in my chest
it knew that it had needed to be torn
so that it could recognize and receive the hundred kindnesses
traveling across three thousand miles at the speed of light
a storm of petals and beautiful words and tiny hearts to keep it
company”
― Francesca Lia Block, How to (Un)cage a Girl

“what would it be like if i thought i was pretty
what would it be like if i carried that knowledge around
like i do the knowledge that i am a writer
pretty like peonies pretty like satin pretty like the child i was
would i speak to you differently
would i be healthier less stressed
less worried
would i buy more shoes or fewer
would i be more or less afraid
of death would i find something else
to hate about myself
would i get this jealous
when your eyes aren't touching me
in this city of movie star beauties
would i be able to write such raw and seductive words
would you have fallen in love with me sooner
would i have frightened you away
before you had the chance?”
― Francesca Lia Block, How to (Un)cage a Girl

“my love wants to change the world
she thinks she has so much to give
not realizing how much she takes from others
my love is loyal until she senses rejection of any kind
then she flies like a bird but has less memory
of where she came from
i would like to protect you from my love”
― Francesca Lia Block, How to (Un)cage a Girl

“like pretty'

what would it be like if i thought i was pretty
what would it be like if i carried
that knowledge around
like i do the knowledge that i am a writer
pretty like peonies pretty like satin pretty
like the child i was
would i speak to you differently
would i be healthier less stressed
less worried
would i buy more shoes or fewer
would i be more or less afraid
of dath would i find something else
to hate about myself
would i get this jealous
when your eyes aren't touching me
in this city of movie star beauties
would i be able to write such raw
and seductive words
would you have fallen in love with me sooner
would i have frightened you away
before you had the chance?”
― Francesca Lia Block, How to (Un)cage a Girl