extract from ‘father, i’m keeping the kid’ by karen o’shea (1986)

“i fell in love once, when i wasn’t looking where i was going. her name escapes me now but i know it rhymed with ‘orange’. we did everything that couples do and did. that is to say, we spent a lot of time together in different rooms – the cinema, the restaurant, the bedroom, the living room, the terminal, the bar. but for some reason, she died one afternoon. it was an act of unparalleled cruelty on her part. i was finally starting to understand what the ramones haven’t been singing about. she had gotten through all of my ridiculous masks and found the rather plain person underneath. i’ll never make that mistake again.”

extract from a conversation with lou walters (2007)

lou:

“all i expect from you is your undying love. is it really so much for me to ask for your clinical and unshakable devotion, dear?……yes, yes, i know. you have an answer for everything. well i have a question for everything. that alone surely makes us soulmates, does it not?……..well, when you put it that way……yes, i do believe that love is absolutely contagious. i believe that love shares all the characteristics of a flesh-eating virus, minus the positives ones, of course. and in the end, isn’t that all we ask of others – that one day they may eat our flesh?”