Tomasa Krigbaum

“With a new awareness, both painful and humorous, I begin to understand why the saints were rarely married women.”
― Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Gift from the Sea: 70th Anniversary Edition

“If one does not react to gossip, the informer hushes more quickly.”
― K. Ritz, Sheever's Journal, Diary of a Poison Master

“A LETTER FROM ROMANIA

Do you see me?

Squinting beneath the half-light,
Searching for a key to
The locked door of the world,
Lost within my own shadow
Amidst an empire of fear.

Do you feel me?

Heating a brick
To warm my sleep.
Drifting into dreams,
In search of myself,
In search of a conscience, a country.

Do you hear me?

Reciting jokes
Laughing to hide tears of truth
That we are denied the present
With empty promises
Of an emptier future.

Do you pity me?

Lips that know no taste of fruit,
Lonely in a country of millions,
Stumbling toward the gallows
Of bad decisions
While the walls listen and laugh.

Will you remember me?

A boy with wings of hope
Strapped to his back
That never had a chance to open,
Denied forever knowing
What he could have become.

What we all could have become.”
― Ruta Sepetys, I Must Betray You

“You shall address me as ‘My Dearest’,’ he repeated in a mocking voice, trying to copy her tone. ‘You will forget all about this conversation when you leave this room.’ It was interesting that tone; it had a sort of hypnotising ring to it.”
― Max Nowaz, The Three Witches and the Master