“All people on the planet are children, except for a very few. No one is grown up except those free of desire.”
―
―
“Frida Kahlo to Marty McConnell
leaving is not enough; you must
stay gone. train your heart
like a dog. change the locks
even on the house he’s never
visited. you lucky, lucky girl.
you have an apartment
just your size. a bathtub
full of tea. a heart the size
of Arizona, but not nearly
so arid. don’t wish away
your cracked past, your
crooked toes, your problems
are papier mache puppets
you made or bought because the vendor
at the market was so compelling you just
had to have them. you had to have him.
and you did. and now you pull down
the bridge between your houses,
you make him call before
he visits, you take a lover
for granted, you take
a lover who looks at you
like maybe you are magic. make
the first bottle you consume
in this place a relic. place it
on whatever altar you fashion
with a knife and five cranberries.
don’t lose too much weight.
stupid girls are always trying
to disappear as revenge. and you
are not stupid. you loved a man
with more hands than a parade
of beggars, and here you stand. heart
like a four-poster bed. heart like a canvas.
heart leaking something so strong
they can smell it in the street.”
―
leaving is not enough; you must
stay gone. train your heart
like a dog. change the locks
even on the house he’s never
visited. you lucky, lucky girl.
you have an apartment
just your size. a bathtub
full of tea. a heart the size
of Arizona, but not nearly
so arid. don’t wish away
your cracked past, your
crooked toes, your problems
are papier mache puppets
you made or bought because the vendor
at the market was so compelling you just
had to have them. you had to have him.
and you did. and now you pull down
the bridge between your houses,
you make him call before
he visits, you take a lover
for granted, you take
a lover who looks at you
like maybe you are magic. make
the first bottle you consume
in this place a relic. place it
on whatever altar you fashion
with a knife and five cranberries.
don’t lose too much weight.
stupid girls are always trying
to disappear as revenge. and you
are not stupid. you loved a man
with more hands than a parade
of beggars, and here you stand. heart
like a four-poster bed. heart like a canvas.
heart leaking something so strong
they can smell it in the street.”
―
“pain, pleasure and death are no more than a process for existence. The revolutionary struggle in this process is a doorway open to intelligence”
― The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait
― The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait
“ إن ما تحتاجه مصر أساسا إنما هو ثورة نفسية، بمعني ثورة علي نفسها أولا ، وعلي نفسيتها ثانيا ،أي تغيير جذري في العقلية والمثل وأيديولوجية الحياة قبل أي تغيير حقيقي في حياتها وكيانها ومصيرها ...ثورة في الشخصية المصرية وعلي الشخصية المصرية ...ذلك هو الشرط المسبق لتغيير شخصية مصر وكيان مصر ومستقبل مصر”
― شخصية مصر: دراسة في عبقرية المكان
― شخصية مصر: دراسة في عبقرية المكان
Mana’s 2025 Year in Books
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