Descending Figure Quotes

“Of two sisters
one is always the watcher,
one the dancer.”
― Louise Glück, Descending Figure

“You stand as rocks stand
to which the sea reaches
in transparent waves of longing;
they are marred, finally;
everything fixed is marred.
And the sea triumphs,
like all that is false,
all that is fluent and womanly.”
― Louise Glück, Descending Figure

“At twilight I went into the street.
The sun hung low in the iron sky,
ringed with cold plumage.
If I could write to you
about this emptiness--”
― Louise Glück, Descending Figure

“I sleep so you will be alive,
it is that simple.”
― Louise Glück, Descending Figure

“It begins quietly
in certain female children:
the fear of death, taking as its form
dedication to hunger,
because a woman's body
is a grave; it will accept
anything.”
― Louise Glück, Descending Figure