a spreading decay of cruelty and disbelief.

“ you will follow me? “

“ forever. “

“ come find me when you are done. “

“ a stranger from the city! “

“ it is time for a bath. “

“ i have a joke. “

“ bees don’t have hair. “

“ you may try but i always come back stronger! “

“ i hate you; i really do. “

“ can’t we not stay in this bed like this forever? “

“ what on earth is the matter, hon? “

“ do you–do you think of me as a fool?”

“ little bitch! “

“ i’ll choke you with the hair they cut from your rotten head! “

“ the bread fell right out of the sky? “

“ shh, shh. sweetheart, sweetheart, it’s me, it’s daddy. it’s daddy. you’re safe. shh. sh. i’m here, daddy’s here. “

“ for now, i look to god, for i know he will respond to my questions. “

“ women are created to be in every way partners, not mindless slaves or brainless doormats, but helpers, collaborators, equals. “

“ i wish to open the world for him. “

“ disgraceful, really, the carelessness…”

“ what is he even teaching you? “

“ bruises will heal. the world might not. “

“ nettlesome is right, boy. “

“ the adults are talking. “

“ do you not have anything better to do than stick your nose in the business of adults? “

“ i know you for what you are. “

“ yes, sir. “

“ we must fight. “

“ you are a halfwit. “

“ and you are capable of anything, my boy. “

“ wine! beautiful wine! “

“ where the hell do you get all your liquor? “

“ i have forgotten their voices. their touch. their smiles. “

“ oh, is that what they’re calling it nowadays? “

“ please save us from the presence of the lovesick – my teeth are rotting in their sockets! “

“ a flush of diamonds! “

“ it’s russian. “

“ lifted it right from his pocket. “

“ there, there, it’s okay. don’t cry. i’m alright. “

“ i will not be taken advantage of. “

“ what appalling vanity. “

“ it is lonely out there without your excuses. “

“ what an imbecile you are. “

“ may i go? “

“ you are not to leave the house. “

“ piss off. “

“ ah ‘piss off’– the retort of the inarticulate! “

“ oh, sit on your cello bow. “

“ it’s a dog! “

“ tomorrow, darling. it can wait. “

“ there will be such an emptiness where you once were. “

“ the world will not take note, my dear. “

“ i do not mean for the world. the emptiness will be beside me. “

“ i shall live within you. “

“ my dearest love. do not withdraw from the world; take part in it. do away with misery, with fear, and, above all, with regret. demand more. of yourself. of man. of this finite, beautiful time. it is too brief and too special to be squandered on despair. “