“Sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof that you've been ruined.”
― On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
― On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
“This creature kneeling
dusted with snow, its teeth
grinding together, sound of old stones
at the bottom of a river
You lugged it to the barn
I held the lantern,
we leaned over it
as if it were being born.
The sheep hangs upside down from the rope,
a long fruit covered with wool and rotting.
It waits for the dead wagon
to harvest it.
Mournful November
this is the image
you invent for me,
the dead sheep came out of your head, a legacy:
Kill what you can’t save
what you can’t eat throw out
what you can’t throw out bury
What you can’t bury give away
what you can’t give away you must carry with you,
it is always heavier than you thought.”
― You are Happy
dusted with snow, its teeth
grinding together, sound of old stones
at the bottom of a river
You lugged it to the barn
I held the lantern,
we leaned over it
as if it were being born.
The sheep hangs upside down from the rope,
a long fruit covered with wool and rotting.
It waits for the dead wagon
to harvest it.
Mournful November
this is the image
you invent for me,
the dead sheep came out of your head, a legacy:
Kill what you can’t save
what you can’t eat throw out
what you can’t throw out bury
What you can’t bury give away
what you can’t give away you must carry with you,
it is always heavier than you thought.”
― You are Happy
“Sometimes you need to scorch everything to the ground, and start over. After the burning the soil is richer, and new things can grow. People are like that, too. They start over. They find a way.”
― Little Fires Everywhere
― Little Fires Everywhere
“Wind warns November’s done with. The blown leaves make bat-shapes, Web-winged and furious.”
― The Collected Poems
― The Collected Poems
“You won’t understand what I mean now, but someday you will: the only trick of friendship, I think, is to find people who are better than you are—not smarter, not cooler, but kinder, and more generous, and more forgiving—and then to appreciate them for what they can teach you, and to try to listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how bad—or good—it might be, and to trust them, which is the hardest thing of all. But the best, as well.”
― A Little Life
― A Little Life
martinae’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at martinae’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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