"All the men she's been with and now you, just you, and barges going by, masts and hulls, the whole damned current of life flowing through you, through her, through all the guys behind you and after you, the flowers and the birds and the sun streaming in and the fragrance of it choking you, annihilating you."

"one week later i find out i have the whole rest of my life to live
but nothings for certain and i could die tomorrow and i don't know if you know who this is
but i can smell the liquor on your breath
was just wondering if you'd like to sit and talk about the carpet and the ceiling for awhile. "

"The one man in the room who was big as his poems, huge, with hulk and dynamic chunks of words; his poems are strong and blasting like a high wind in steel girders. And I screamed in myself: oh to give myself crashing, fighting to you."

"I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me. I have accepted fear as a part of life–specifically the fear of change, the fear of the unknown and I have gone ahead despite the pounding in my heart that says turn back, turn back, you’ll die if you venture too far.
...
And the trouble is, if you don't risk anything, you risk even more."

"I know what every colored woman in this country is doing... Dying. Just like me. But the difference is they dying like a stump. Me, I'm going down like one of those redwoods. I sure did live in this world."

"the quiet happiness of very selfish people."

"consider this tapestry, my life."