I’m Watching An Ocean Vuong Video Right Now And He Just Said “language Is Real. The Power Of It Is

              & there’s nothing more holy than holding               a man’s heartbeat between your teeth

— Ocean Vuong, from “Devotion,” Night Sky with Exit Wounds

Oh shittttt I forgot this was my one wild and precious life

Permanent dark eye circles squad

she was the lighthouse that guided you home, the siren that beckoned you to her embrace, the light of the moon / and you the changing tides, the ship that came to her shore, the willing sailor who went overboard

Anna Akhmatova, from “Lot’s Wife,” featured in “A Treasury of Russian Verse,”

Black Earth Rising (2018)

دل به دل راه داره

— There is telepathy between hearts

A Persian expression used to explain how and why two hearts feel in the same way

They stood like memory

Chess isn’t always competitive. Chess can also be beautiful. It was the board I noticed first. It’s an entire world of just 64 squares. I feel safe in it. I can control it. I can dominate it. And it’s predictable, so if I get hurt, I only have myself to blame.

THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT (2020)