--THIS MIGHT NOT EVEN BE ENOUGH FOR YOU

…Yesterday I finished “The Yellow Birds” by Kevin Powers, a wonderful talent.  His writing is reminiscent of Tim O’Brien, albeit a bit more literary.

He shows us the unvarnished reality of war and the havoc it wrecks.

Here are some excerpts:

"While we slept, the war rubbed its thousand ribs against the ground."

"We only pay attention to rare things, and death was not rare."

"I remember being told that the truth does not depend on being believed."

"A few city lights and the fires on the hillsides burned like a tattered quilt of fallen stars."

"Now I know: All pain is the same.  Only the details are different."

"Her grief was dignified and hidden, as is most grief, which is partly why there is always so much of it to go around."

"It reminded me of talking, how what is said is never quite what was thought, and what is heard is never quite what was said."

--Kevin Powers "The Yellow Birds"

The book is terrific.  I finished it in a day and a half.

…Here are some other things you might like:

"Anyone who has survived childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days." Flannery O'Connor

"You're crying; you say you've burned yourself.

But can you think of anyone who's

not hazy with smoke?"

--Rumi

"I've tried

to keep them close

as skin, rebuilt each one

in poem.  These are the darkest prayers

I own."

--Amelia Cook

"The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." Chinese proverb