“I literally feel like I have one month left of my life, though I know that’s not true. It’s incredibly morbid, to be honest.”

“That was the moment. I didn’t know what art was, I didn’t know what poetry was, but I knew that I had to find a way to hide from the life I was given and enter a different world.”

“I’ve always been a creature of the past. I’ve always felt flooded and hounded and haunted by memory, but I found that it’s almost like present experience quieting down has left this room.”

“I had to pass the book like a kidney stone. I had to get it out of my system.”

“That was probably the first time I said I’m not sure I have control over this or I’m not really sure that what I do is going to be able to fix this. I don’t know.”

“My father was fighting death with everything he had. There was no peace. He was furious. My son was ready to do everything, talk and communicate and move. His body wasn’t always up to his desires.”

“I was always aware that I could get in trouble, quote unquote, but I wasn’t ever treated like that until this police riot.”

“I remember this because my son fell asleep in the back of the car, and when he fell asleep, my husband said, Listen, I have to tell you. On the train, I had a really bad conversation with my folks.”