“It seems to me that the desire to make art produces an ongoing experience of longing, a restlessness sometimes, but not inevitably, played out romantically, or sexually. Always there seems something ahead, the next poem or story, visible, at least, apprehensible, but unreachable. To perceive it at all is to be haunted by it; some sound, some tone, becomes a torment — the poem embodying that sound seems to exist somewhere already finished. It’s like a lighthouse, except that, as one swims towards it, it backs away.”
― Proofs & Theories: Essays on Poetry
― Proofs & Theories: Essays on Poetry
“In a world myriad as ours, the gaze is a singular act: to look at something is to fill your whole life with it, if only briefly.”
― On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
― On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
“I touch you knowing we weren't born tomorrow,
and somehow, each of us will help the other live,
and somewhere, each of us must help the other die.”
― Twenty-One Love Poems.
and somehow, each of us will help the other live,
and somewhere, each of us must help the other die.”
― Twenty-One Love Poems.
“Ten times a day something happens to me like this - some strengthening throb of amazement - some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.”
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“I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.”
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Robin’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Robin’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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