Richard Siken: Making

“You see, I take the parts that I remember and stitch them back together to make a creature that will do what I say or love me back.”

“Moonlight making crosses
on your body, and me putting my mouth on every one.”

“Vanity, in a fairy tale, will make you evil. Vanity in the real world will drive you nuts. Vanity makes you say things like “I deserved a better life than this.”

“This is where the evening splits in half, Henry, love or death. Grab an end, pull hard, and make a wish.”

“We can do anything. It’s not because
our hearts are large, they’re not, it’s what we
struggle with. The attempt to say Come over. Bring
your friends. It’s a potluck, I’m making pork chops, I’m making
those long noodles you love so much.”

“You're waiting because you thought it would follow, you thought there would be some logic, perhaps, something to pull it all together but here we are in the weeds again, here we are in the bowels of the thing: your world doesn't make sense.”

“There is an empty space next to you in the backseat of the station wagon. Make it the shape of everything you need. Now say hello.”

“We're shooting the scene where I swallow your heart and you make me
spit it up again. I swallow your heart and it crawls
right out of my mouth.
You swallow my heart and flee, but I want it back now, baby. I want it back.”