Sharon Olds

“I have always been a stranger in this world.”

“I wanted to go to the place where the earth was bare.”

“I look at my parents. I see the two of them now, as if for the first time.”

“Then the door of the cage flew open and the bird flew out.”

“When I was a child, I was a foreigner in my own house.”

“I had not known, before, that love is just a kiss on the bone.”

“I promised myself I would never sing of sorrow, but I have sung of sorrow.”

“I want to go up to them and say Stop, don't do it—she's the wrong woman, he's the wrong man.”

“I think of the kids, the little kids, the babies, and I think that they are the reason that we are here.”

“I don't know who I am. I look in the mirror and I see a stranger.”

“But I have seen my father's corruption. I have seen his evil.”

“Every story is a love story.”

“It is terrible to be a daughter. It is wonderful to be a daughter.”

“I am a woman, and I am a poet. It is a powerful combination.”

“He is my brother, my enemy, my lover, my friend.”

“I did not know him, I knew my idea of him.”

“The body is a selfish creature.”

“After all, it is a matter of life and death, and you don't get many of those. This is a matter of life and death, therefore a matter of comedy.”

“When he finally came to my door, I was so glad to see him, I did not care that he was death.”

“I had not known that I was so strong.”