Sharon Olds

“I have always been a stranger in this world.”

“I look at my parents. I see the two of them now, as if for the first time.”

“Then the door of the cage flew open and the bird flew out.”

“I wanted to go to the place where the earth was bare.”

“I had not known, before, that love is just a kiss on the bone.”

“But I have seen my father's corruption. I have seen his evil.”

“When I was a child, I was a foreigner in my own house.”

“Every story is a love story.”

“I promised myself I would never sing of sorrow, but I have sung of sorrow.”

“I want to go up to them and say Stop, don't do it—she's the wrong woman, he's the wrong man.”

“I don't know who I am. I look in the mirror and I see a stranger.”

“When he finally came to my door, I was so glad to see him, I did not care that he was death.”

“I am a woman, and I am a poet. It is a powerful combination.”

“It is terrible to be a daughter. It is wonderful to be a daughter.”

“The body is a selfish creature.”

“I think of the kids, the little kids, the babies, and I think that they are the reason that we are here.”

“After all, it is a matter of life and death, and you don't get many of those. This is a matter of life and death, therefore a matter of comedy.”

“I had not known that I was so strong.”

“He is my brother, my enemy, my lover, my friend.”

“I did not know him, I knew my idea of him.”