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Lewis Nordan Quotes

There is great pain in all love, but we don't care, it's worth it.

There is great pain in all love, but we don't care, it's worth it.

Lewis Nordan
Pain, Care, Don't Care

The Mississippi Delta is not always dark with rain. Some autumn mornings, the sun rises over Moon Lake, or Eagle, or Choctaw, or Blue, or Roebuck, all the wide, deep waters of the state, and when it does, its dawn is as rosy with promise and hope as any other.

Lewis Nordan
Morning, Rain, Autumn
Lewis Nordan (2003). “Wolf Whistle”, p.149, Algonquin Books

There were happy days, with watermelon, and sad days of whiskey.

Lewis Nordan
Happy Day, Whiskey, Sad Day
Lewis Nordan (1992). “Music of the Swamp”, p.59, Algonquin Books

A thousand times, when the train slowed or stopped, I thought of jumping off. I wanted to die in a ditch. I wanted to disappear. I wanted a different history and geography. In rhythm with the wheels I said I want I want I want I want I stayed on the train.

Lewis Nordan
Jumping, Different, Want
Lewis Nordan (1992). “Music of the Swamp”, Algonquin Books

Even Solon Gregg was finding it hard to speak to a woman who had just paid hard cash for tampons and on her face wore the look of a woman who meant to use them, as advertised.

Lewis Nordan
Looks, Use, Tampons
Lewis Nordan (2003). “Wolf Whistle”, p.32, Algonquin Books

In my mind, I gave the woman gifts. I gave her a candle stub. I gave her a box of wooden kitchen matches. I gave her a cake of Lifebuoy soap. I gave her a ceilingful of glow-in-the-dark planets. I gave her a bald baby doll. I gave her a ripe fig, sweet as new wood, and a milkdrop from its stem. I gave her a peppermint puff. I gave her a bouquet of four roses. I gave her fat earthworms for her grave. I gave her a fish from Roebuck Lake, a vial of my sweat for it to swim in.

Lewis Nordan
Baby, Sweet, Dark
Lewis Nordan (1992). “Music of the Swamp”, Algonquin Books

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