“I didn’t want to feel alienated from my own book.” - José Orduña on why he decided not to translate much of the Spanish in his book, The Weight of Shadows: A Memoir of Immigration & Displacement.

How could she feel nostalgia when he was right in front of her? How can you suffer from the absence of a person who is present? You can suffer nostalgia in the presence of the beloved if you glimpse a future where the beloved is no more.

We don’t know how to say goodbye: we wander on, shoulder to shoulder. Already the sun is going down; you’re moody, I am your shadow. Let’s step inside a church and watch baptisms, marriages, masses for the dead. Why are we different from the rest? Outdoors again, each of us turns his head. Or else let’s sit in the graveyard on the trampled snow, sighing to each other. That stick in your hand is tracing mansions in which we shall always be together.

But I would never kiss anyone who doesn’t burn me like the sun.

I could be bounded in a nutshell, and count myself a king of infinite space—were it not that I have bad dreams.

“The voice of Paul himself has a direct, physical impact: by raising his voice, he can not only derange his adversary, he can even blow up the hardest rock. At the end of the film, Paul raises his voice and shouts back at the old priestess who tried to penetrate his mind, causing her to jump away as if she has been dealt a physical blow. As Paul himself says, his words can kill—that is, his speech does not only function as a symbolic act, it cuts directly into the Real. The disintegration of the ‘normal’ relationship between bodily surface and its beneath or beyond is strictly correlative to this change in the status of speech, to this emergence of a word that operates directly at the level of the Real.”

1 is probably 2 2 is probably 3 Therefore, 1 is probably 3 1 is indeed 2 2 is indeed 3 Therefore, 1 is indeed 3 1 is 2 enough 2 is 3 enough Therefore, 1 is 3 enough 1 is certainly 2 2 is certainly 3 Therefore, 1 is certainly 3 1 is occasionally 2 2 is occasionally 3 Therefore, 1 is occasionally 3 1 saw 2 2 saw 3 Therefore, 1 saw 3 1 was 2 2 was 3 Therefore, 1 was 3 1 is waiting on 2 2 is waiting on 3 Therefore, 1 is waiting on 3 1 is perhaps 2 2 is perhaps 3 Therefore, 1 is perhaps 3 1 likes 2 2 likes 3 Therefore, 1 likes 3 1 walked with 2 2 walked with 3 Therefore, 1 walked with 3 1 imagined 2 2 imagined 3 Therefore, 1 imagined 3 1 is meaner than 2 2 is meaner than 3 However, 3is downright evil next to 1 1 has no relation with 2 2 has no relation with 3 Therefore, 1 has no relation to 3 1 misunderstands 2 2 misunderstands 3 Therefore, 1 misunderstands 3 Is 1 really 2? Is 2 really 3? Therefore, is 1 really 3? 1 is/has 2 2 is/has 3 Therefore, 1 is/has 3 1 might be 2 2 might be 3 Therefore, 1 might be 3 1 is seemingly 2 2 is seemingly 3 Therefore, 1 is seemingly 3 Is 1 really 2, I wonder? Is 2 really 3, I wonder? Therefore, is 1 really 3, I wonder? Come on, tell me! 1 thinks it is 2 2 thinks it is 3 In other words, 1 thinks it is 3 1 is a famous singer-actress in 2’s eyes 2 is a famous singer-actress in 3’s eyes Therefore, 1 is a famous singer-actress in 3’s eyes 1 is treating 2 as a problem 2 is treating 3 as a problem Therefore, 1 is treating 3 as a problem 1 alone is 2 2 alone is 3 Therefore, 1 alone is 3 Well, of course, 1 is 2 Well, of course, 2 is 3 Therefore, well, of course, 1 is 3 1 and 2 don’t understand 2 and 3 don’t understand Therefore, 1 and 3 don’t understand 1 could have been 2 2 could have been 3 Therefore, 1 could have been 3 1 finds 2 despicable 2 finds 3 despicable Therefore, 1 finds 3 despicable 1 is probably really 2 2 is probably really 3 So 1 is probably really 3 1 repeats 2 2 repeats 3 Therefore, 1 repeats 3 1 is the reverse of 2 2 is the reverse of 3 Therefore, 1 is the reverse of 3, right? 1 only understands 2 2 only understands 3 Therefore, 1 only understands 3 1 also understands 2 2 also understands 3 Therefore, 1 also understands 3 1 doesn’t understand anyone but 2 2 doesn’t understand anyone but 3 Therefore, 1 doesn’t understand anyone but 3 1 is not different than 2 2 is not different than 3 Therefore, 1 is not different than 3 1 does not understand 2 2 does not understand 3 Therefore, 1 does not understand 3 1 is 2, ain’t it? 2 is 3 ain’t it? So, 1 has gotta be 3, right! Well, of course 1 is 2! Well, of course 2 is 3! So, well, of course 1 is 3! 1 is always totally 2 2 is always totally 3 Therefore, 1 is always 3 (LOL) 1 is 2’s lover 2 is 3’s lover Therefore, 1 is 3’s lover 1 slugged 2 2 slugged 3 So 1 hauled off and slugged 3 1 is born from 2 2 is born from 3 Therefore, 1 is born from 3 1 is a figment of 2’s imagination 2 is a figment of 3’s imagination Therefore, 1 is a figment of 3’s imagination 1 took 2 by surprise 2 took 3 by surprise However, 3 took 1 by surprise 1 wants to be 2 2 wants to be 3 Therefore, 1 wants to be 3 1 is sometimes 2 2 is sometimes 3 Therefore, 1 is sometimes 3 Surprised, 1 is 2 Surprised, 2 is 3 Therefore, surprised, 1 is 3 1 says to 2 2 says to 3 So 1 says to 3 1 is smoking 2 2 is smoking 3 Therefore, 1 is smoking 3 1 is 2, don’t ya think? 2 is 3, don’t ya think? So 1 is 3, don’t ya think? Could 1 be 2? Could 2 be 3? So how could 1 possibly be 3? 1 is more numerous than 2 2 is more numerous than 3 Therefore, 1 is more numerous than 3 1 might not be 2 2 might not be 3 So 1 might not be 3 1 is whispering with 2 2 is whispering with 3 Therefore, 1 is whispering with 3 The 2 that was a 1 is a 3 The 3 that was a 2 is a 1 Therefore, the 1 that was a 3 is a 2 I don’t know if it’s 1 or 2 I don’t know if it’s 2 or 3 So I don’t know if it could be 1 or 3 1 is at war with 2 2 is at war with 3 Therefore, 1 is at war with 3 1 is in front of 2 2 is in front of 3 Therefore, 1 is in front of 3 1 feels sorry toward 2 2 feels sorry toward 3 Therefore, 1 feels sorry toward 3 1 is not necessarily 2 2 is not necessarily 3 Therefore, 1 is not necessarily 3 1 is the subject of 2’s vicious rumors 2 is the subject of 3’s vicious rumors Therefore, 1 is the subject of 3’s vicious rumors 1 also likes 2 2 also likes 3 Therefore, 1 also likes 3 1 thinks 2 has talent as a poet 2 thinks 3 has talent as a poet Therefore, 1 thinks 3 has talent as a poet 1 thinks of 2 as 3 2 thinks of 3 as 1 Therefore, 3 thinks of 1 as 2