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1 " I like my coffee black, my beer from Germany, wine from Burgundy, the darker, the better. I like my heroes complicated and brooding, James Dean in oiled leather, leaning on a motorcycle. You know the color. ("Ode to Chocolate") "
― Barbara Crooker , More
2 " Are we always to be wantingwhat isn't:the greenest grassaccord and principlemotherhood and career?Yet our age lies to uslike an asp,whispering. "Both. "
― Barbara Crooker
3 " On this blue day, I want to be nothing more than an amanuensis to the birds, transcribing all the bits and snatches of song riding in on the wind. "
4 " Praise the light of late November,the thin sunlight that goes deep in the bones.Praise the crows chattering in the oak trees;though they are clothed in night, they do notdespair. Praise what little there’s left:the small boats of milkweed pods, husks, hulls,shells, the architecture of trees. Praise the meadowof dried weeds: yarrow, goldenrod, chicory,the remains of summer. Praise the blue skythat hasn’t cracked yet. Praise the sun slipping downbehind the beechnuts, praise the quilt of leavesthat covers the grass: Scarlet Oak, Sweet Gum,Sugar Maple. Though darkness gathers, praise our crazyfallen world; it’s all we have, and it’s never enough. "
― Barbara Crooker , Radiance
5 " Some October, when the leaves turn gold, askme if I've done enough to deserve this lifeI've been given. A pile of sorrows, yes, but joyenough to unbalance the equation.When the sky turns blue as the robes of heaven,ask me if I've made a difference.The road winds through the copper-colored woods;no one sees around the bend.Today, the wind poured out of Canada,a river in flood, bringing down the brilliant leaves,broken sticks and twigs, deserted nests.Go where the current takes you.Some twilight, when the clouds stream in from the westlike the breath of God, ask me again. "Some October "