A Reader.

“the world is hard on ambitious girls”
― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a community of women trying to mind their own business must be in want of a random man’s opinion.”
― Ali Hazelwood, Love on the Brain

“when it is but it ain't

Some of us love badly.
Sometimes the love is the type of love that implodes.
Folds in on itself. Eats its insides.
Turns wine to poison.
Behaves poorly in restaurants.
Drinks. Kisses other people.
Comes back to your bed at 4am smelling like everything outside.
Asks about your ex. Is jealous of your ex.
Thinks everyone a rival.

Some of us love others badly, love ourselves worse.
Some of us love horrid, love beastly.
Love sick love anti light.
Sometimes the love can’t go home at night,
can’t sleep with itself, cannot contain itself,
catches fire, destroys the stomach,
strips buildings, goes missing.
Punches. Smashes heirlooms.
Tells lies. The best lies. F*s around.
Writes poems, impresses people.
Chases lovers into corners.
Leaves them longing. Sea sick.
Says yes. Means anything but.
Tricks the body.
Kills the body.
Dances wild
and walks away, smiling.”
― Yrsa Daley-Ward

“I have an ability - that I haven’t seen in my life - to imagine and see you. And when I see something or hear a word and comment on it in my mind, I hear your answer in my ear, as if you were standing next to me with your hand in mine. Sometimes, I hear you laughing, and sometimes I hear you refusing my opinion and other times you’re the first to make a comment, and I stare at the eyes of those standing in front of me to see if they saw you with me.”
― Ghassan Kanafani, غسّان كنفاني الأعمال الكاملة