“Are you afraid of falling, baby?No, I’m afraid of landing.[He’s laughing, and I’m smiling.]Stupid idiot smile, don’t you know what comes next?”

“You don’t need to be afraid of falling // when there’s someone aroundto catch you.”

“Is that love? It seems like a pale word, too easily tossed about by people who don’t know the meaning of it, who twist it for their own ends. I’m afraid of it now, right up there with clowns, close spaces, and open flames.”

“What they don’t know is, no matter how they decide, they can’t penalize me more than I’m already punishing myself.”

“I’m as forgiving as the wall you hit at two hundred kilometers an hour.”

“I’m not a woman you bring home to Mother, pick out china patterns with, or Mary forefend, breed. I’ve seen a chunk of the universe, true, but there’s still so much more to see. I doubt I’ll ever cure this wanderlust, and I’m content with dedicating my life to failing to sate it... He’s never going to sit at my feet and write me poems, which is good because I hate poetry, except dirty ones that rhyme.”

“I know you have bad news,” I say softly. “I’m ready for it.”But that’s not true. One is never ready. You just lie and say you are and hope you can take the hit on the chin without going down.”