“[My father] had brought in some large pieces of petrified wood . . . He said, “I reckon those things have been there since the Flood.” That Flood, of course, covered the whole earth, involved Noah’s ark, and presumably left petrified wood outside of Carrollton, Mississippi!”
“I always had this feeling—I've heard other Jews say—that when you can't find any other explanation for Jews, you say, ‘Well, they are poets.’”
“A writer once said to me, If you ever go to America, go either to the East Coast or the West Coast: The rest is a desert full of bigots. That's what I think I'd like . . . a version of pastoral.”
“I have beliefs, of course, like everyone—but I don't always believe in them.”
“It is enraging to work in words, sometimes; no wonder writers are often nervous and crazy: Paint seems to be a more benevolent, a more soothing and serene-making medium.”
Paula did it so others in the office—
who lunch at The Olive Garden together,
don't include her—won't think she is
a loser. On her desktop, it pulsates.
In first grade I was positive there were
furry creatures called tisathees.
Every morning we intoned, “My country
She asserts herself at the damnedest times—
when they’re working out at the gym, say,
or having a brandy and cigar with the boys.
My internist said you are unnaturally large.
Had I caught gonorrhea from some co-ed?
(In my encyclopedia, you come right between
In first grade I was positive there were
furry creatures called tisathees.
Every morning we intoned, “My country
“For a few years, I managed to eke out
a meagre living as The Human Yo-Yo.”
But I tired of the unnatural activity,