#Shuly Xóchitl Cawood

[dk-thrive]

These were the delicate words, like wings: 'I love you' and 'I missed you' and 'I'm so very sorry.' They flapped without sound.

— Shuly Xóchitl Cawood, from "Listening for Truths and Answers," in "What the Fortune Teller Would Have Said" (Iron Horse Literary Review, 2023) (via Alive on All Channels)

[sanya888]

These were the delicate words, like wings: I love you and I missed you and I'm so very sorry. They flapped without sound.

— Shuly Xóchitl Cawood, from "Listening for Truths and Answers,"

[inuhiime]

:: 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 !

' this is not a dream : you died and were buried three times. ' ( phillip b. williams )

' if i didn't care, i wouldn't be grieving. ' ( minnie bruce pratt )

' it is better to lose and win, than win and be defeated. ' ( diane di prima )

' you can walk out anytime you want. why are you still in there? ' ( heather havrilesky )

' don't say it was a dream. ' ( ilya kaminsky )

' i love you and i missed you and i'm so very sorry. ' ( shuly xóchitl cawood )

' love is a battle, love is a war ; love is a growing up. ' ( james baldwin )

' can't you come to me now, this instant? i'm longing for you. ' ( ingmar bergman )

' you have to believe it ; you don't mean any harm. ' ( rebecca gayle howell )

' your mind is a nightmare that has been eating you. ' ( kathy acker )

' it is torture to love someone you couldn't save. ' ( danusha laméris )

' hell is a place on earth. heaven is a place in your head. ' ( david wojnarowicz )

' some say the point of war is to make the need for tenderness more clear. ' ( carl phillips )

' i will chase you to the ends of the earth. ' ( eileen myles )

' i will lean into you, who have loved me in your way, knowing where you are and what you care for. ' ( joanna klink )

' love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. ' ( james baldwin )

' the best thing i have ever learned to do is love patiently. ' ( maya marshall )

' they don't need to know your side of the story, and you don't need the last word. ' ( morgan richard oliver )

' if i am ever caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, just being alive and not bothering anyone, i hope i am greeted with the same kind of mercy. ' ( rudy francisco )

' nothing this intense can ever last. even the brightest stars burn out. ' ( gwendolyn macewen )

' i will tell you this. there's no need for you to break. ' ( r.m. drake )

' growing hurts at first, but when does the hurting stop? ' ( victoria chang )

' aren't you just as tired of the fear within me? ' ( leila chatti )

' i love you. i'm waiting for you. ' ( maria cesarès )

' why is there always this scent of sorrow? ' ( richard jackson )

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

[Howard Finster's Paradise Garden] ::

That artwork is VERY FAMILIAR to me, because Rev. Finster created that at my request for the Habitat for Humanity Birdhouse ArtFest! We used the image for posters, T-shirts, sweatshirts ... maybe tote bags, too. The image was a VERY BIG HIT! We were very grateful that he created that artwork for us. [Jackie Goodman]

* * * *

These were the delicate words, like wings: 'I love you' and 'I missed you' and 'I'm so very sorry.' They flapped without sound.

— Shuly Xóchitl Cawood, from "Listening for Truths and Answers," What the Fortune Teller Would Have Said (Iron Horse Literary Review, 2023)