Hieu Minh Nguyen Quotes

All I’ve ever wanted to be was useful. I can’t stop talking about desire.

I won't tell you how I survived the wreckage. This story doesn't leave the ocean floor.

I want to be a braver kind of meat to say, show yourself & mean it but how long have I prepared for the dragon only to run in the other direction.

One more thing before you leave: once, I chose a man because he looked how I imagine you would now. Soft hair & a flat smile. I asked him not to speak. I asked him to slap me.

I have built myself a safer body, covered the rot with rot.

Again, Let Me Tell You What I Know About Trust —not a damn thing. So let me tell you what I know about forgiveness—this joke can go on & on, see? I guess I'm trying to understand what makes a man carry guilt the same way he would a bat.

since my body is a sea, a good sea, the ocean, maybe,

The narrow clearing down to the river I walk alone, out of breath my body catching on each branch. Small children maneuver around me. Often, I want to return to my old body a body I also hated, but hate less given knowledge. Sometimes my friends—my friends who are always beautiful & heartbroken look at me like they know I will die before them. I think the life I want is the life I have, but how can I be sure? There are days when I give up on my body but not the world. I am alive. I know this. Alive now to see the world, to see the river rupture everything with its light.