From my point of view, which is that of a storyteller, I see your life as something artful, waiting, just waiting and ready for you to make it art.

I want to feel what I feel. What's mine. Even if it's not happiness, whatever that means. Because you're all you've got.

Everything depends on knowing how much,” she said, and “Good is knowing when to stop.

The pieces I am, she gather them and gave them back to me in all the right order.

If we had no language we'd have nothing.

I tell my students one of the most important things they need to know is when they are at their best, creatively. They need to ask themselves, What does the ideal room look like? Is there music? Is there silence? Is there chaos outside or is there serenity outside? What do I need in order to release my imagination?

Risky, thought Paul D, very risky. For a used-to-be-slave woman to love anything that much was dangerous, especially if it was her children she had settled on to love. The best thing, he knew, was to love just a little bit, so when they broke its back, or shoved it in a croaker sack, well, maybe you'd have a little love left over for the next one.