Swim Quotes

“I swallow you like bitter melon
dipped in thick, syrupy honey
indulging in your sweetness
regretting the aftertaste.”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim

“You’re a little sad and that’s okay. You don’t have to be like the rest of them; dark stars shine too”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim

“You’re a little sad and that’s okay. You don’t have to be like the rest of them; dark stars shine too --Dark star”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim

“You have to understand that every day is a victory, and even if you do nothing but get out of bed -even if you don’t get out of bed- you are still worthy of the air in your lungs and the time this life is giving you. --Today is a victory”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim

“I am afraid of losing loved ones and being alone in the dark but mostly I am afraid of being merely tolerated when I want so badly to be loved.”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim

“It is not your job to determine whether someone else is oppressed.”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim

“I cannot tell who is to blame; the doctors, insurance companies, or the system. But somebody should be held accountable for everyone who tried to get help when their heads didn’t feel quite right and couldn’t get more than five minutes of a doctor’s time.”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim

“I call him little brother
but he is bigger than I am
and probably smarter too.
I still remember holding him in the hospital,
bursting into tears because
ten-year-old me had never held
anything so beautiful.
Seeing him all grown up aches a little;
nostalgia and pride all balled up in one.
I wonder why
there isn’t a word
for a feeling like that.
--Little brother”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim

“My great fear
is that one day my children
will sit on my lap and say
read to me, mommy
one more book; please?
and we’ll flip through dog-eared pictures
of blue whales and elephants and pangolins
the way I used to look at dinosaurs;
in wonder of great creatures that used to be.
--Extinct”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim

“I was falling down the waterfall
panicking, flailing,
while tourists with cameras
admired it from the riverbank,
in awe of its beauty.
You see, perspective is everything.
--What I feel like to me/What I look like to them”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim

“I am always wary of people who merely nibble on dessert; I don’t want someone who ruins a whole cookie just to get a taste. --Eat the whole damn thing”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim

“I used to envy people who could pick up a knife   and not think to themselves what if I stabbed someone? I watched them cut their steaks so mindlessly, so unafraid. Fork in meat, cut, cut, cut. fork in mouth, repeat. Sometimes I got soup just because I didn’t need a little weapon to eat it. Eating shouldn’t be this hard, life shouldn’t be this hard, and don’t even get me started with scissors. All of these people cutting their steaks and doing their construction paper projects; I must be crazy, because nobody else has these thoughts these bloody thoughts    these what if I killed my sister thoughts.”
― Emily Byrnes, Swim