“In a certain mood, the earth itself can seem a ouija board, calling out its advice, discharging symbol after symbol, relentless and malevolent, though to ordinary eyes nothing more has happened than a single back and white bird winging down the sky.”
― To the River: A Journey Beneath the Surface
― To the River: A Journey Beneath the Surface
“You Reading This, Be Ready
Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?
Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?
When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life—
Whatever can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?”
― Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford
Starting here, what do you want to remember?
How sunlight creeps along a shining floor?
What scent of old wood hovers, what softened
sound from outside fills the air?
Will you ever bring a better gift for the world
than the breathing respect that you carry
wherever you go right now? Are you waiting
for time to show you some better thoughts?
When you turn around, starting here, lift this
new glimpse that you found; carry into evening
all that you want from this day. This interval you spent
reading or hearing this, keep it for life—
Whatever can anyone give you greater than now,
starting here, right in this room, when you turn around?”
― Ask Me: 100 Essential Poems of William Stafford
“Beauty is a problem in that it imparts a kind of hope.”
― Min kamp 6
― Min kamp 6
“The detective thinks he is investigating a murder or a missing girl. But truly he is investigating something else altogether, something he cannot grasp hold of directly. Satisfaction will be rare. Uncertainty will be your natural state. Sureness will always elude you. The detective will always circle around what he wants, never seeing it whole. We do not go on despite this. We go on because of it.”
― Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead
― Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead
“Each was over fifty and poor, probably homeless, wearing clothes that hadn't been washed this year. They were the same type of man you could see in any city in America, in a little park or square just off downtown, halfway to skid row. I think they started making them after the Civil War; fighters who'd lost their wars and lost their fight. Even when their side won, they lost.”
― Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead
― Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead
Lori’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Lori’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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