Tag: words
“later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?
it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.”– Warsan Shire
‘I feel terrible, like there’s a weight on my chest.’
‘A heart’s a heavy burden.’
Howl’s Moving Castle
(2004)
The first rule of poetry is honesty; the second is fuck you.
I do not stand in the doorway and kiss my wife like I will never see
her again
I do not say noose when I mean bullet
I do not say bullet when I am asked what keeps me awake at night
I do not keep track of the names
I do not keep track of my own body
I do not look at graves
I do not look at televisions
I do not look in the eyes of the interviewer
when he asks how there can be so much violence in my poems
I do not look honest enough to surviveI have maybe left my home
for the last time— Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib, ‘Do Not Call this “War”’, The Crown Ain’t Worth Much
“So you see,” said the Royal Advisor, wringing his hands, “the curse states the princess will die on the night before her twenty-fifth birthday–”
“Hang on,” said the princess, “‘ON the night before’–”
The Advisor nodded grimly.
“So what you’re saying is that, until that one specific date, I am effectively immortal?”
“Technically yes, but then–” the King stammered.
“Wow,” said the princess, who was sixteen and did not possess amazing impulse control. “I’m gonna go teach myself how to juggle chainsaws while hang gliding over shark-infested waters, catch you chuckleheads later.”
Here’s the thing about curses that most people don’t realize: curses are selfish.
Not the motives behind them—not necessarily, at any rate—but the curses themselves, the nuts and bolts of the magic, so to speak. If someone wraps an enchantment around you, and that enchantment’s sole purpose is to doom you on a particular day and time—the stroke of midnight is pretty popular, for whatever reason—well.
Something that complex and powerful operates according to its own rules. It wants vengeance, and that means doing whatever must be done to ensure that no rival foe shows up at the eleventh hour to steal its thunder. Princess Hammerhands the Sharkpuncher, as she would later come to be known, was an extremely rash and somewhat foolish person, but the “immortality until you die” loophole is real.
Knowing your body will defy death takes some of the thrill out of death-defying stunts, as it turns out. Some, not all. Princess Hammerhands the Sharkpuncher had some good years on the daredevil circuit. She picked up several neat tricks—a good performance wasn’t just about survival, but artistry, she figured. She befriended sword swallowers and fire breathers and professional dragon ticklers. But after three years, she was feeling antsy again.
#and then they broke each other’s curses but they waited until like the day before hammerhands’ 25th birthday #for maximum immortality years and also to piss off the curse the most
There are people who are always in love with the sky, no matter the weather. One day you will find someone who’ll love you the same way.
n. m., from a book in progress (via wnq-writers)
Develop a strong opinion about yourself so that you are not deceived into believing what other people say about you.
(via fawun)
Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love and love cannot be killed or swept aside
Lin Manuel Miranda (2016 Tony Awards)
What is human existence? It turns out it’s pretty simple: We are dead stars, looking back up at the sky.
the moon is beautiful 