—THE NEON LIGHTS ON BALTIMORE, EVERY SHADOW’S GETTING FAMOUS

 

 

How to Pronounce Knife—Souvankham Thammavongsa

 

 

--Red wondered what that felt like, to be seen, to feel the mouth of someone who wanted you.

 

--I wondered whether, in life, you get one big role, some message you need to deliver to someone, and when it’s done, it’s time to go.

 

--His laugh was gentle and private and welcoming. You got the sense that he, too, was alone.

 

--To know someone’s dislikes was to be close to them.

 

--You can do that with a joke, hide how you feel and mean what you say at the same time, and no one will ask you which it is.

 

--That’s what it felt like then, to be with Richard. I didn’t think about what would happen to me, what the future would look like. I was in it.

 

--I watched him with a sadness he couldn’t see. I didn’t want to be with someone who could do that—who could deny what I was. He had the time to have regrets, to be stupid. I didn’t.

 

--That’s the thing about being old. We don’t have wrinkles until we see them. Old is a thing that happens on the outside. A thing other people see about us.

 

--All they could now was to be close to it, and remain out of sight.

 

--No one is ever alone in the world. There is always a friend somewhere for everyone.

 

--Beauty was boring. To be ugly was to be particular, memorable, unforgettable even.

 

--It was the way it was. We lose each other, or the way we know each other gets lost.

 

--Sometimes people have a way of looking at you that makes you feel you have to explain yourself.

 

--I wanted to know what it would feel like to have a sound like that in my mouth.

 

--Tell me you love me. Even if not’s true. Just say it, please.

 

--Every piece belongs somewhere, doesn’t it?