I didn't tell him that what I was most scared of, most haunted by, was something I didn't understand and could never run away from. It was myself.

All the things that girls feel they are not when they fear that if they become, if they are, they will no longer be loved by the sisters whose hearts they have not meant to break. And besides, if the sisters are gone and only the beloved remains with his dense curls and his lips, how safe are you then? You have to have him or you will die if the sisters are gone with their listening ears and their feet to rub and their bodies to dress and their shared loneliness.

Each of us has a family tree full of stories inside of us, Dirk thought. Each of us has a story blossoming out of us.

I want to be untouchable and beautiful and completely dead inside.

I think that poetry is perfect for women raising children, with just bits of time and such need to connect to other women out of the isolation of motherhood.

Sometimes I wanted to peel away all of my skin and find a different me underneath.

Pulling heads off Barbies, sticking them on the TV antenna and ruining the reception. But thats how witch babies are.