Ivette Windschitl

“But not you, O girl, nor yet his
mother,
stretched his eyebrows so fierce with
expectation.
Not for your mouth, you who hold him
now,
did his lips ripen into these fervent
contours.
Do you really think your quiet
footsteps
could have so convulsed him, you who
move like dawn wind?
True, you startled his heart; but older
terrors
rushed into him with that first jolt
to his emotions.
Call him . . . you'll never quite
retrieve him from those dark consorts.
Yes, he wants to, he escapes; relieved,
he makes a home
in your familiar heart, takes root
there and begins himself anew.
But did he ever begin himself?”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Duino Elegies

“I normally can't stand vice-free people. They conflate a narcissistic instinct for self-preservation with moral superiority. Plus they suck the life right out of a party.”
― Dennis Lehane, Moonlight Mile

“This is what I would like. To play in those fields for a little longer. To spend a little more time being me before I become someone else. This is what I would like.”
― Garth Stein, The Art of Racing in the Rain

“I think many people kill themselves simply to stop the debate about whether they will or they won't.”
― Susanna Kaysen