Reality

She waited at the beautiful
dining room table,
the falsely distressed wood,
full of fake wormholes,
each flaw polished
and deepened as though
by generations of family dinners.

— Louise Erdrich, "Shadow Tag"

Married

A soul could be captured
through a shadow. ...
Gil had placed his foot
on Irene's shadow
when he painted her.

And though she tried
to pull away, it was
impossible to tug
that skein of darkness
from under his heel.

— Louise Erdrich, "Shadow Tag"

Fatal

When you die of sorrow
it's as if you've broken
all the bones in your body,
bruised yourself all over,
cracked your skull.
That's sorrow.

— Roberto Bolano, "2666"

Nostalgia

The days
when Hemingway
was on par
with movie stars

is long gone.

— Dave Gessner
http://billanddavescocktailhour.com/we-are-all-poets-now/
http://collinkelley.blogspot.com/2010/04/tinkers-tailors-soldiers-poets.html

Crying

Streaks
of rust
had run
like
ancient
bloody
tears.

— Stephen King, "Desperation"

Dark

The bandstand
was wrought iron,
and in it,
though it was
late at night,
insomniac
children
played.

— Roberto Bolano, "2666"
(translated by Natasha Wimmer)

Buttered

I laugh like crazy,
a laughter that bubbles
out like popcorn ...

— James Franco, "Just Before the Black"
(Esquire short story, April 2010)

RIP

"I think I am going to die."

She did not even blink
when she replied.

"That would be best,"
she said. "Then we could
both have some peace."

— Gabriel Garcia Marquez, "Love in the Time of Cholera"

Bruised

Red-tailed hawks
soared above
in the sky,
which was
purple like
the skin
of an Indian
woman beaten
to death.

— Roberto Bolano, "2666"
(Translated by Natasha Wimmer)

Scent

... they dug up the barbecue,
and a smell of meat and hot earth
spread over the patio
in a thin curtain of smoke
that enveloped them all
like the fog that drifts
before a murder ...

— Roberto Bolano, "2666"
(translated by Natasha Wimmer)