Richard Siken

“Eventually 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: you’re falling to the floor...”

“If you love me, Henry, you don’t love me in a way I understand.”

“Here is the repeated image of the lover destroyed.”

“I swear, I end up feeling empty, like you've taken something out of me and I have to search my body for scars.”

“Oh, the things we invent when we are scared and want to be rescued.”

“We pull our boots on with both hands but we can't punch ourselves awake and all I can do is stand on the curb and say Sorry about the blood in your mouth. I wish it was mine. I couldn't get...”

“A man walks into a bar and says: Take my wife–please. So you do. You take her out into the rain and you fall in love with her and she leaves you and you’re desolate. You’re on your back in y...”

“I wanted to be wanted and he was very beautiful, kissed with his eyes closed, and only felt good while moving. You could drown in those eyes, I said, so it’s summer, so it’s suicide, so we’r...”

“He could build a city. Has a certain capacity. There’s a niche in his chest where a heart would fit perfectly and he thinks if he could just maneuver one into place – well then, game over.”

“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,...”

“This is where the evening splits in half, Henry, love or death. Grab an end, pull hard, and make a wish.”

“(...) Love, for you is larger than the usual romantic love. It’s like a religion. It’s terrifying.”