Quotes from Richard Siken

He was not dead yet, not exactly— parts of him were dead already, certainly other parts were still only waiting for something to happen, something grand

There should be just one safe place in the world

but monsters are always hungry, darling, and they're only a few steps behind you, finding the flaw, the poor weld, the place where we weren't stitched up quite right, the place they could almost slip right through if the skin wasn't trying to keep them out, to keep them there, on the other side

The trees in wind, the streetlights on, the click and flash of cigarettes being smoked on the lawn, and just a little kiss before we say goodnight. It spins like a wheel inside you: green-yellow, green-blue, green beautiful green. It's simple: it isn't over, it's just begun. It's green. It's still green.

The heart is monologuing about hesitation and fulfillment while behind the red brocade the heart is drowning. Can the heart escape? Does love even care?

I've seen your true face: the back of your head. If you were walking away, keep walking.

There is no danger. It is not getting dark , we want to say.

I couldn't make you love me and I'm tired of pulling your teeth.

but will you let me kiss your neck, baby? Do I have to tie your arms down?

There is rarely any joy in a frictionless space, so find your inner viscosity.

as if he's trying to tell you that there is some sort of shining star now buried deep inside you and he has to dig it out with a knife.

I want to tell you this story without having to confess anything … I want to tell you this story without having to be in it

but will you let me kiss your neck, baby? Do I have to tie your arms down? Do I have to stick my tongue in your mouth like the hand of a thief, like a burglary like it's just another petty theft? It makes me tired, Henry. Do you see what I mean? Do you see what I'm getting at?

Consider the hairpin turn. It is waiting for you like a red door

Logic is boring because it works. Being unreasonable is exciting.

You said I could have anything I wanted, but I just couldn't say it out loud.

You were driving toward something and then, well, then you found yourself driving the other way.

becoming ever lost.

We've read the back of the book, we know what's going to happen.

He hits you and he hits you and he hits you. Desire driving his hands right into your body.

leave the gun on the table, this has nothing to do with happiness.

Tell me we'll never get used to it.

His hands keep turning into birds, and his hands keep flying away from him. Eventually the birds must land. - Unfinished Duet

Let's jump ahead to the moment of epiphany, in gold light, as the camera pans to where the action is, lakeside and backlit, and it all falls into frame