KADEN

“The first time I found my brother
overdosed, he looked holy. A thing
not to be touched. Yellow halo of last
night's dinner. His skin, blanched blue
fresco: Patron Saint of Smack. A Cop,
flustered, tugged up his shorts, plunged
a needle into his pale thigh. He hissed
awake like a soda can. The paramedic
spoke slowly in his ear like a lover,
asked him what color yellow and red
make. What is the difference between
a lake and a river? In the corner I
whittle my brother's used syringe
into an instrument only I can play.”
― Steven Espada Dawson

“Color directly influences the soul. Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand that plays, touching one key or another purposively, to cause vibrations in the soul.”
― Wassily Kandinsky, Concerning the Spiritual in Art

“Sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof that you've been ruined.”
― Ocean Vuong, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

“I'm sick to death of this particular self. I want another.”
― Virginia Woolf, Orlando