Imagine that the world is made out of love. Now imagine that it isnโt. Imagine a story where everything goes wrong, where everyone has their back against the wall, where everyone is in pain and acting selfishly because if they donโt, theyโll die. Imagine a story, not of good against evil, but of need against need against need, where everyone is at cross-purposes and everyone is to blame.
Richard SikenHere I am leaving you clues. I am singing now while Rome burns. We are all just trying to be holy. My applejack, my silent night, just mash your lips against me. We are all going forward. None of us are going back.
Richard SikenWho am I? I'm just a writer. I write things down. I walk through your dreams and invent the future. Sure, I sink the boat of love, but that comes later. And yes, I swallow glass, but that comes later.
Richard SikenThe way you slam your body into mine reminds me Iโm alive, but monsters are always hungry, darling.
Richard SikenEventually something you love is going to be taken away. And then you will fall to the floor crying. And then, however much later, it is finally happening to you: youโre falling to the floor crying thinking, โI am falling to the floor crying,โ but thereโs an element of the ridiculous to it โ you knew it would happen and, even worse, while youโre on the floor crying you look at the place where the wall meets the floor and you realize you didnโt paint it very well.
Richard Siken