Turquoise

“I wiped my palms together, brushing the petals that had stuck to them back into the stream. Petals with frilled edges, pale ones, vivid ones, petals with the calyx still attached. They all clung for a moment to the bricks of the wash landing, but in no time at all they were caught up in the stream again and melted into the mass.”
― Yōko Ogawa, The Memory Police

“Will you come with me?’
‘I can’t, I’m bound here, but take this.’ The raven flew down and, as far as Winnet could see, started vomiting on the flags. Then he rearranged his feathers, and dropped a rough brown pebble into her hand.
‘Thank you,’ said Winnet. ‘What is it?’
‘It’s my heart.’
‘But it’s made of stone.’
‘I know,’ the raven replied sadly. ‘You see I chose to stay, oh, a long time ago, and my heart grew thick with sorrow, and finally set. It will remind you.”
― Jeanette Winterson, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

“I nodded. He threw his paper at me. "Here, keep up with the world, even if you don't want to join it.”
― Jeanette Winterson, Sexing the Cherry

“I cut off my head and threw it in the sky.”
― Richard Siken, War of the Foxes