The Butterfly Bruises Quotes

“2001, NOKIA CELLPHONE
His first cellphone was slipped
into his hands on September 12th,
2001. The cover was the American Flag.
“It’s just... in case of emergency,”
his mother whispered to him.
As if the world had not ended,
had not evaporated already.
He still goes to school.
He hears myths on the bus about Hussein.
He donates his piggy bank to Fire Station 86.
In it is a 20-dollar bill and purple
pieces of toy soldiers.
He wonders if the soldiers’ hearts exploded.
He wants them back in the piggy bank.”
― Palmer Smith, The Butterfly Bruises

“Earth has begun to unravel.
Her back is bone-weary from carrying us.
Watch her spine ache, vertebrae by vertebrae,
depleted of her original stone-born shell.
She drinks her ocean water, but she heaves.
Do you realize how thirsty she is?”
― Palmer Smith, The Butterfly Bruises

“The snow glistened upon the hazy glass of the Italian diner window when she said, “We’re adults now. We will lose friends.” I cannot get this line out of my head.”
― Palmer Smith, The Butterfly Bruises

“Fingernails transform into icicles. You try
to touch the mirror, but your hands melt just before you reach it. You back away from your reflection. She stays where she is, an immortal body of
broken bones, solidified by depressing thoughts. Stuck in the mirror with her name engraved in gold letters.”
― Palmer Smith, The Butterfly Bruises

“There isn’t much to say about someone who has been absent but then flows back into your brain slowly. Actually, maybe there is. There is a lot to say about you and how I love and hate you, and how I know that
this will be a continuous feeling.”
― Palmer Smith, The Butterfly Bruises

“Butterflies would float up from our eyelashes. The
butterflies would turn from white cocoons to purple-winged creatures. The air would become purple, and all of a sudden, the butterflies would etch their
shadows across the ceiling. They would swarm into my brain and suck out every memory of us that I have. Then, I would be left with this one moment of us in this room, replaying itself like a still film frame over and over again.”
― Palmer Smith, The Butterfly Bruises

“Butterflies would float up from our eyelashes. The
butterflies would turn from white cocoons to purple-winged creatures. The
air would become purple, and all of a sudden, the butterflies would etch their
shadows across the ceiling. They would swarm into my brain and suck out
every memory of us that I have. Then, I would be left with this one moment
of us in this room, replaying itself like a still film frame over and over again.”
― Palmer Smith, The Butterfly Bruises