“You go to work the next day pretending nothing happened. Your co-workers ask if everything's okay and you tell them you're just tired. And you're trying to smile. And they're trying to smile.” IfsTryingNextAsksHappenedOkayTiredWorkersPretendingNext DayCo Worker Author:Richard Siken
“Here 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.” TryingNightHolySingingSilentLeavingLipsRomeClueHere I AmSilent Night Author:Richard Siken
“Knot the tie and go to work, unknot the tie and go to sleep. I sleep. I dream. I wake. I sing. I get out the hammer and start knocking in the wooden pegs that affix the meaning to the landscape, the inner life to the body, the names to the things. I float too much to wander, like you, in the real world. I envy it but that’s the dealio—you’re a train and I’m a trainstation and when I try to guess your trajectory I end up telling my own story.” WorldTryingRealEndsStoriesDreamBodyNamesMy OwnSleepToo MuchLike YouTrainEnvyWanderLandscapeTiesReal WorldFloatsHammersGoing To SleepInner LifeKnockingKnotsTrajectoryPeg Author:Richard Siken
“This is my favorite part. It starts and ends here. The pebbles shine, the plan worked, Hansel Triumphant. Lesson number one: be sneaky and have a plan. But the stupid boy goes back, makes the rest of the story postscript and aftermath. He shouldn’t have gone back. And this is the second lesson I took from the story: when someone is trying to ditch you, kill you, never go back.” TryingEndsStoriesNumbersBoysGonePlansStupidLessonsShiningMy FavoriteTriumphantAftermathPebblesSneaky Author:Richard Siken
“Let me tell you what I do know: I am more than one thing, and not all of those things are good. The truth is complicated. It’s two-toned, multi-vocal, bittersweet. I used to think that if I dug deep enough to discover something sad and ugly, I’d know it was something true. Now I’m trying to dig deeper. I didn’t want to write these pages until there were no hard feelings, no sharp ones. I do not have that luxury. I am sad and angry and I want everyone to be alive again. I want more landmarks, less landmines. I want to be grateful but I’m having a hard time with it.” IfsThinkingKnowsWantWritingTryingTwoHardEnoughFeelingsUsedAliveOne ThingTruth IsPagesLet MeAngryGratefulUglyDeeperComplicatedLuxuryHard TimesBe GratefulVocalBittersweetLandmarksHaving A Hard TimeLandmines Author:Richard Siken
“You're trying not to tell him you love him, and you're trying to choke down the feeling, and you're trembling, but he reaches over and he touches you, like a prayer for which no words exist, and you feel your heart taking root in your body, like you've discovered something you don't even have a name for.” FeelsTryingHeartFeelingsBodyNamesPrayerLike YouRootsYour BodyChokeTrembling Author:Richard Siken
