“Only the wind shatters the silence. I have been here before choking in solitude.”

“The crashing sound of years lost shattered in her ears, and new fears emerged from the looking glass. Sometimes I wonder if she'll ever sing again.”

“You have to take people one at a time, check out what's in their head and heart before you judge.”

“I woke up this morning exhausted from hiding the me of me. So I stand here confiding there's more to Devon than jump shot and rim. I'm more than tall and lengthy of limb. I dare you to peep behind these eyes, discover the poet in tough-guy disguise. Don't call me Jump Shot. My name is surprise.”

“Jealousy is a waste of energy...focus on what I have, not what I don't.”

“The lack of goodness in the young gun's heart was oxygen to the fire, and so he burned for a good long while before I woke. The dream stoked my faith in the judgment and justice that will come someday or this afternoon soon. I turn up the collar of my white robe, relieved to know that God's got me covered 'cause I'm good, but not that good.”

“The day she clips her way out of her cocoon, the only sound she plans to hear is a deafening cheer.”