I Felt As If I Were Riding

We All Laced Together—a Brothel Madam, An English Professor, A Mute Cook, A Quadroon Cabbie, And Me, The Girl Carrying A Bucket Of Lies And Throwing Them Like Confetti.

Let Me Tell You Something 'bout These Rich Uptown Folk," Said Cokie. "they Got Everything That Money Can Buy, Their Bank Accounts Are Fat, But They Ain't Happy. They Ain't Ever Gone Be Happy. You Know Why? They Soul Broke. And Money Can't Fix That, No Sir.

I Looked Down At The Little Pink Face In The Bundle. A Newborn. The Child Had Been Alive Only Minutes But Was Already Considered A Criminal By The Soviets.

Some Things Just Won’t Go Away, No Matter How Hard You Scrub.

People I Didn't Know Formed A Circle Around Me, Sheltering Me From View. They Escorted Me Safely Back To Our Jurta, Undetected. They Didn't Ask For Anything. They Were Happy To Help Someone, To Succeed At Something, Even If They Weren't To Benefit. We'd Been Trying To Touch The Sky From The Bottom Of The Ocean. I Realized That If We Boosted One Another, Maybe We'd Get A Little Closer.