Her caves ghosted by foxes. - from Pierced Darkness, by Adrienne Rich
He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. he did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.
- from The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald (from whence the title of rich's book "dark fields of the republic")
Forward, forward let us range, let the great world spin for ever down the ringing grooves of change.
- from Locksley Hall, Alfred Lord Tennyson (also from whence the title of Colm McCann's book "let the great world spin")
and one that's been here before, but i'll excerpt it again:
edge light from the high desert where shadows drip from tiniest stones
sunklight of bloody afterglow
torque of the joshua tree flinging itself forth in winter
factoring freeze into its liquid consciousness
these are the extremes i stoke
into the updraft of this life
still roaring
into thinnest air
- from Inscriptions, adrienne rich
For a long time afterward, the world grew chipper,
offering samples of itself to every comer. That’s why I was so late. It takes a long time to choose when you’re not ready. Even longer when you are. You know this better than anyone, myself included.
- from Wulf, by John Ashbery
There's no way to be in good faith on this island anymore. You have to crush so many things with your mind vise just to get through the day.
- from Find Your Beach, by Zadie Smith
On the way to take a plane early one icy spring morning I spotted him on the airport road. He was making his determined way towards town, his breath smoking and a drop at the end of his poor old battered nose glinting like a fresh-cut jewel in the pink-tinged, frosty sunlight.
- from Ancient Light, by John Banville
- from Locksley Hall, Alfred Lord Tennyson (also from whence the title of Colm McCann's book "let the great world spin")
and one that's been here before, but i'll excerpt it again:
edge light from the high desert where shadows drip from tiniest stones
sunklight of bloody afterglow
torque of the joshua tree flinging itself forth in winter
factoring freeze into its liquid consciousness
these are the extremes i stoke
into the updraft of this life
still roaring
into thinnest air
- from Inscriptions, adrienne rich
For a long time afterward, the world grew chipper,
offering samples of itself to every comer. That’s why I was so late. It takes a long time to choose when you’re not ready. Even longer when you are. You know this better than anyone, myself included.
- from Wulf, by John Ashbery
There's no way to be in good faith on this island anymore. You have to crush so many things with your mind vise just to get through the day.
- from Find Your Beach, by Zadie Smith
On the way to take a plane early one icy spring morning I spotted him on the airport road. He was making his determined way towards town, his breath smoking and a drop at the end of his poor old battered nose glinting like a fresh-cut jewel in the pink-tinged, frosty sunlight.
- from Ancient Light, by John Banville
Everything that rises must converge - flannery o'connor
all that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of his life, and his relations with his kind
