“I stand above the tree level I am a tree I catch wind storm breaths My branches claw I drink sky It stretches me I don't care I catch jokes and luck from tall thin blue air”

“One is OneHeart, you bully, you punk, I'm wrecked, I'm shockedstiff. You? you still try to rule the world--thoughI've got you: identified, starving, lockedin a cage you will not leave alive, nomatter how you hate it, pound its walls,& thrill its corridors with messages.Brute. Spy. I trusted you. Now you reel & brawl in your cell but I'm deaf to your rages,your greed to go solo, your eloquentthreats of worse things you (knowing me) could do.You scare me, bragging you're a double agentsince jailers are prisoners' prisoners too.Think! Reform! Make us one. Join the rest of us,and joy may come, and make its test of us.”

“Poetry is priceless.... a way of keeping yourself feeling rich and civilized even when you're quite poor. ”

“Hello," She said.There was a long silence."Hello," said Artemis again."Are you talking to me?" said the tree. It had a faint Australian accent."Yes," said Artemis. "I am Artemis." If the tree experienced any recognition, it didn't show it. "I'm the goddess of hunting and chastity," said Artemis.Another silence. The the tree said, "I'm Kate. I work in mergers and acquisitions for Goldman Sachs.""Do you know what happened to you, Kate?" said Artemis.The longest silence of all. Artemis was just about to repeat the question when the tree replied."I think I've turned into a tree," it said. "Yes," said Artemis. "You have.""Thank God for that," said the tree. "I thought I was going mad."Then the tree seemed to reconsider this. "Actually," it said, "I think I would rather be mad." Then, with hope in its voice: "Are you sure I haven't gone mad?""I'm sure," said Artemis. "You're a tree. A eucalyptus. Subgenus of mallee. Variegated leaves.""Oh," said the tree."Sorry," said Artemis."But with variegated leaves?""Yes," said Artemis. "Green and Yellow."The tree seemed pleased. "Oh well, there's that to be grateful for," it said.”

“I remember a man throwing me in the air when I was very little. He stands as tall as the sky, and he throws me up so high it feels as though I'm flying. We're both laughing, laughing so much that I could hardly catch a breath, and finally I laugh so hard I wet myself, but that only makes him laugh the louder. I was never afraid when he was throwing me. I knew that he would always be there to catch me.”

“So what if I cannot be a model, if I am no longer considered beautiful, if Malvolia is trying to catch me. I am climbing a tree! And I am doing so with Jack.”

“He strips his shirt over his head and I catch my breath, watching those long hard muscles ripple. I know how his shoulders look, bunched, when he's on top of me, how his face gets tight with lust, as he eases inside me. "Who am I?""Jericho""Who are you?" He kicks off his boots, steps out of his pants. He's commando tonight.My breath whooshes out of me in a run-on word: "Whogivesafuck?”