We don't really believe in mowing the lawn; we do it only to avoid unnecessary engagement with the neighbors.

She never inquired, but she never recoiled, either. This is a quality that I look for in a person, not recoiling.

We had loved people we really shouldn't have loved and then married other people in order to forget our impossible loves, or we had once called out hello into the cauldron of the world and then run away before anyone could respond.

I asked myself if I would kill my parents to save his life, a question I had been posing since I was fifteen. The answer always used to be yes. But in time, all those boys had faded away, and my parents were still there. I was now less and less willing to kill them for anyone; in fact, I worried for their health. In this case, however, I had to say yes. Yes, I would.

Some people are uncomfortable with silences. Not me. I’ve never cared much for call and response. Sometimes I will think of something to say and then I ask myself: is it worth it? And it just isn’t.

My earliest memory is aged three, seeing sunlight on water and feeling it was really magical.

All I ever really want to know is how other people are making it through life—where do they put their body, hour by hour, and how do they cope inside of it.