“Mama always said barefoot and pregnant was not my style. She knew.”

“There were two things about Mama. One is she always expected the best out of me. And the other is that then no matter what I did, whatever I came home with, she acted like it was the moon I had just hung up in the sky and plugged in all the stars. Like I was that good.”

“Poor Congo, barefoot bride of men who took her jewels and promised the Kingdom.”

“This came as a strange letdown, to see how the game always went to those who knew the rules without understanding the lesson.”

“Back then I was still appalled that God would set down his barefoot boy and girl dollies into an Eden where, presumably, He had just turned loose elephantiasis and microbes that eat the human cornea. Now I understand, God is not just rooting for the dollies.”

“I'm of a fearsome mind to throw my arms around every living librarian who crosses my path, on behalf of the souls they never knew they saved.”

“I wish I could go visit them and talk in my own language, the English I knew before I grew thorns on my tongue.”