“I am living. I remember you.”
― Marie Howe, quote from What the Living Do: Poems
“WHAT THE LIVING DO
Johnny, the kitchen sink has been clogged for days, some utensil probably fell down there.
And the Drano won't work but smells dangerous, and the crusty dishes have piled up
waiting for the plumber I still haven't called. This is the everyday we spoke of.
It's winter again: the sky's a deep, headstrong blue, and the sunlight pours through
the open living-room windows because the heat's on too high in here and I can't turn it off.
For weeks now, driving, or dropping a bag of groceries in the street, the bag breaking,
I've been thinking: This is what the living do. And yesterday, hurrying along those
wobbly bricks in the Cambridge sidewalk, spilling my coffee down my wrist and sleeve,
I thought it again, and again later, when buying a hairbrush: This is it.
Parking. Slamming the car door shut in the cold. What you called that yearning.
What you finally gave up. We want the spring to come and the winter to pass. We want
whoever to call or not call, a letter, a kiss--we want more and more and then more of it.
But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the window glass,
say, the window of the corner video store, and I'm gripped by a cherishing so deep
for my own blowing hair, chapped face, and unbuttoned coat that I'm speechless:
I am living. I remember you. ”
― Marie Howe, quote from What the Living Do: Poems
“Anything I’ve ever tried to keep by force I’ve lost.”
― Marie Howe, quote from What the Living Do: Poems
“the bridge appears when you walk across it—that”
― Marie Howe, quote from What the Living Do: Poems
“Soon I will die, he said, and then what everyone has been so afraid of for so long will have finally happened, and then everyone can rest.”
― Marie Howe, quote from What the Living Do: Poems
“I had no idea that the gate I would step through to finally enter this world would be the space my brother’s body made.”
― Marie Howe, quote from What the Living Do: Poems
“What happened in our house taught my brothers how to leave, how to walk down a sidewalk without looking back.”
― Marie Howe, quote from What the Living Do: Poems
“even if I could go back in time to her as me, the age I am now she would never come into my arms without believing that I wanted something.”
― Marie Howe, quote from What the Living Do: Poems
Marie Howe
Born place: in Rochester, New York, The United States
Born date January 1, 1950
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“تمنيت ان اعفو عنه ولا كن العفو لا ياتي دفعه واحده كهديه مغلفه بشريط احمرانما ياتي تدريجيا بالاضافه الي ذلك لن يمحو العفو اثار الالم اللذي سببه لي سوف يلازمني هذا الالم ما حيت لاكن هذا العفو سيساعدني ان اتسامي عن الماضي اواجه كل ما حذث كان عليه ان اصرفه عن ذهني كلي احرر نفسي منه
" مارينا”
― Marina Nemat, quote from Prisoner of Tehran
“Then she looked away, dismissing him as if she’d found him to be substandard.
All right, then. She didn’t find him attractive. Good.
In fact, he kept his head shaved to a glossy shine for just that reason. He was a man willing to do anything to discourage feminine attention.
Because yeah, females could be vanity hounds and most preferred their dates to have hair. Black, blond, red, it didn’t matter, as long as the locks were thick and lustrous.
And here was a news flash for little
Miss Giggles: when he allowed his to grow, it was dark brown, nearly jet, with hints of gold and worthy of a fucking lion.”
― Gena Showalter, quote from Dark Taste of Rapture
“You seem to be the one for firsts,” his breath caught, “and lasts and always.”
― Aleksandr Voinov, quote from Special Forces
“No. No more surprises. No more secrets. Or so help me, I will rip off your own leg and beat you with it.”
― Lia Habel, quote from Dearly, Departed
“If those we love visit us when we dream, those who torment us almost always visit us when we're still awake.”
― Alyson Richman, quote from The Lost Wife
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