Alena

“I think I am starting to vanish slowly from head to toe. There are ten different ways to say sunset. The bartender says my face is wearing all of them.”
― Hanif Abdurraqib, The Crown Ain't Worth Much

“It's no use

Mother dear, I
can't finish my
weaving
You may
blame Aphrodite

soft as she is

she has almost
killed me with
love for that girl”
― Sappho, Sappho

“If to exploit is human nature, than this, to resist exploitation, is also human nature. No exploiter has ever lived in peace without their weapons, their soldiers, and their propaganda and lies. And I have enough faith in human self-interest to believe that those who do the true labor of society will rise for their own sake until there are no more exploiters to combat, however many eons it will take. Every oppresser, through their denial of humanity, sows the seeds of their own destruction.”
― Xiran Jay Zhao, Heavenly Tyrant

“I only have this one mouth.
I cannot make it into a graveyard for you anymore.
I just learned how to make room under my tongue for the name of someone who loves me.”
― Hanif Abdurraqib, The Crown Ain't Worth Much