Kathy’s Reviews > Mean > Status Update

“By denying certain events a place in the historical record, there’s a certain denial of truth. With that denial comes dignity. Belief in one’s basic dignity is like makeup. It helps you leave the house. It protects your real face, the you-est you, against judgments.”

“I want to chipmunk or squirrel away the memory of this event, place it in a tree trunk with the memories of all the other rapes, attempted rapes, and gropes, memories that will never be released or consumed. When a man asks, “What did he do to you?” he’s asking to eat one of these traumatic acorns. Girls never ask for these seeds. They know what it’s like[...]” // Strawberry Picker, Exquisite Corpse

“Female fasting has its own grammar and syntax. Men, especially fathers, often misinterpret it. By fasting, a girl ascends a throne made of bone. She stares into the face of the divine and beyond. She finds that infinity has no caloric value. This is fine. Emptiness comes to nourish her. It replaces her marrow. All of her hope calcifies, cracks, and disappears. She laughs at gravity.”

“Somewhere on this planet, a man is touching a woman to death. […] Moon glows above me. My skin prickles. Goose bumps remind me. In this emptiness, I am never alone. Shadows fall. Shadows fall again. No one can touch them.”

[As a child] “I spoke my first words at a place more American than Appomattox: the McDonald’s across from the Greyhound bus station. This makes me a patriot, though the words themselves were Francophile. “French fry,” I moaned, reaching for one.”