“In so many senseless deaths, beauty is to blame.”

“Naturally, I do blame Françoise. I blame her for having N in the first place. She was young, she was beautiful, she was married to a doctor, and she was intelligent. She could have abstained from producing her first son. It was wrong on a variety of levels.”

“It would be sad and wrong in so many ways to self-combust at this time.”

“My mind floats like ash. I blame myself most cruelly.”

“I no longer blame Thing Woman or myself quite so much for N´s leaving us. I look at him sometimes for an unguarded moment and see a tall, crooked man with yellowing teeth and a leer. I see new N. Bad N. Vulnerable to anyone with a vagina. I also see Good N, just a glimpse, here and there. And Noncommittal N, an extra in his own life, just hitting his marks and looking well pressed. He´s become a whole group of people, a cache of ghosts tugging at my sleeve.Good N was phenomenal.”

“The swans are unnaturally beautiful. They mate for life.I wish they could talk. I have questions.”

“It had all seemed as inevitable as sunset. Instead it was the beauty of the sun glinting upon the scythe.”