(character count: 110; with title: 134)

everything you ever said


is packed in an old cigar box

somewhere in

the back of a

storage closet i

rented five apartments

ago,




i think.


 
(character count: 111; without title: 86)

What Can Keep You Running

That knowing smile or wave when you pass by another running in the opposite direction.



 
(character count: 124)

Unrequited

She sits on the stoop, crying. He's unable to make her laugh, or see things differently. He sits with her anyway.

 
(character count: 132; with title, 140)

History

In the dark confines of the house sit the shadows of memories of all who have passed before. With a little effort, you can find them.
 
This is an announcement for a new feature, a new page on this website: Lines I Love. We all, as readers, have them, lines that make us laugh, reflect, cry; descriptions that make us cringe, pull our knees tightly together in fear and empathy, a visceral reaction to the material being read. Sometimes, in the middle of what might be an otherwise hapless story or thoroughly average novel, the writer weaves a phrase that so delights us, we have to re-read it in momentary praise and condemnation: praise and awe over the beauty of the emotions the author has captured and the way in which he or she said it, and condemnation for the fact that we didn't think of it first.
As this feature (and website) evolves I may include an explanation as to why I love these particular lines or passages. As of now there is no rhyme, no reason, no order. Feel free to visit the page and see what types of writing and phrasing tickles my arbitrary fancy. Feel free to disagree. Feel free to leave comments of some of your own favorite lines. Those submitted will be added to the page, with attribution.
I leave you lines from "The Origin of Love" from the film Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The lyrics near the end of the song, listed below, sums up the intentions of most writers, well, at least my intentions, better than I could ever hope to: to show the pain inside each of our characters (and us) and, hopefully, by showing that pain, to help them (and us) heal:

But I could swear by your expression
that the pain down in your soul
was the same as the one down in mine.
- John Cameron Mitchell, "The Origin of Love"