Anita

“A man takes his sadness down to the river and throws it in the river
                    but then he’s still left
with the river. A man takes his sadness and throws it away
                                                                        but then he’s still left with his hands.”
― Richard Siken, Crush

“A sudden exhilaration, the foreign feel of the cold air on my body, set me leaping, galloping, and leaping again. An old chuckle, the secret life of my lungs, started up once more. The light, so soft, lavender in the shadows and gold on the rooftops, was intoxicating. My legs, mottled and pale, moved beneath me. The pavement stung and burned. The grit bit my large, tender feet, caught in the pads of my toes. I had planned to run and it was fun. Running is one of the signs of aberration in adults. It connotes fear, urgency, guilt. Only in special shoes and coordinated exercise suits is running acceptable.”
― Katherine Dunn, Toad

“You fainted and I caught you. It was the first time I'd supported a human. You had such heavy bones. I put myself between you and gravity. Impossible.”
― Elizabeth Knox, The Vintner's Luck