Jazz Moon Quotes

“Harlem had been hit by a hurricane: It was raining cats and jazz.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“He so often felt as though he hailed from a different species, not quite human. He’d always been different, had never fit. Negroes looked at him askance, questioning his credentials as a Negro man. Whites did, too. For both groups, he wasn’t Negro enough.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“Paris. Bright miracle. But behind every bright thing creeps its shadows. The moon had its shadows and Paris had hers.They lurked in her back streets and back alleys, in parks and in basements.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“Forgiveness was like charity: You could dispense it, or not. And, as with charity, the one dispensing held the power.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“You could have love, or you could have pleasure, and rarely did the two commingle. Love was difficult. Pleasure was not.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“He did not want to crush their unfolding story. But he hoped he was not in love with love. That was like wanting to read, but only good news. Love could fill, but not make whole; it could cushion loneliness, not cure it. What it did was broaden your circumference of concern beyond yourself to encompass another person. Even if—when—that person caused you grief.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“Falling in love. As if love was some awful pit and the inevitable direction was down. Why not rise in love instead of fall? And even that was inaccurate because love didn’t do either. It unfolded, like a story. It had plotlines and plot points and points of view; was populated with supporting roles.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“It’s better to die with your worst enemy in the room than to die all alone, right?”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“You can only know you are cared about if you are told and shown.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“There are other ways of being intimate besides sex.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“The light and the heat tantalize, but stray too close and face obliteration.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“A sidewalk café. Coffee. Beignets. A favorite book of poems, the pages edged in gilt. A serenading band. Wistful jazz. Happy jazz. Glo. Gin. A poem dancing off the nib of his pen. The sun and moon holding hands in the sky. A tickle of champagne. A stroke of reefer.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“The first time I heard jazz, I had just moved to New York. One day I was wandering around Manhattan, looking for work, and there were these two guys on a corner. One played the banjo; the other was on the clarinet, improvising. There was a hat for people to drop coins in, but I was the only one paying them any attention. Even though I didn’t know a thing about jazz I could tell they were amateurs. But there was something about the music. It was sweet. And spicy. Kind of complicated. A little low-down. And intricate. And a little naughty.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“Kindness and talent and love ain’t the same as strength.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“Strings were out. Jazz was in.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“His lover. His muse. Admirer. Critic. His antagonist. His protector. Defender. His savior. His.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“Having nothing to lose liberates.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon

“He was handsome. For a white guy.”
― Joe Okonkwo, Jazz Moon