This was what she needed… the quiet turning to the other in the middle of the night, the wordless meeting of lips, skin, breath. The trust, unfurling one pale petal at a time, that he would be there.

Bleeding isn't optional for most of us.

Women were complicated creatures. Any man who thought he had one figured out simply wasn't paying attention.

Fear and bigotry don’t need explaining. They simply are, like traffic jams and taxes.

I see you. I will be careful with the places that hurt.

We don't go to the ocean for anything as simple as happiness, do we? We go there to feel alive. Like life, the ocean holds chance and change, grief and terror and beauty. It promises mortality, not peace.

Dogs make sense. They understand hierarchy and the need to cooperate. They come when you call them. A cat though—a cat will take your number and get back to you. Maybe. If he’s in a good mood.