“Love is the bone and sinew of my curse.--from "Poem For A Birthday - The Stones", written 1959”

“Mother of otherness, Eat me.--from "Poem for a Birthday - Who", written 1960”

“I have stitched life into me like a rare organ--from "Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", written 1962”

“They had to call and callAnd pick the worms off me like sticky pearls.--From the poem "Lady Lazarus", written 23-29 October 1962”

“At twenty I tried to dieAnd get back, back, back to you.I thought even the bones would do.--from "Daddy", written 12 October 1962”

“What did my fingers do before they held him?What did my heart do, with its love?From " Three Women: A Poem for Three Voices", 1962”

“Ash, ash —-You poke and stir.Flesh, bone, there is nothing there——A cake of soap,A wedding ring,A gold filling.Herr God, Herr LuciferBewareBeware.Out of the ashI rise with my red hairAnd I eat men like air.--from "Lady Lazarus", written 23-29 October 1962”