An academic dialect is perfected when its terms are hard to understand and refer only to one another.
Young men preen. Old men scheme.
After a moment of shrinking back, we domesticate the grotesque.
Our troubles keep us going.
Old photograph: amid the set poses of her family, a young girl smiles and raises her hand a little.
If I could do my life over, I would try to cleanse at least my pleasures of self-pity.