#hobohm

[commonplaceheart]

"I came out a few months before AIDS hit hard. The generation above me was decimated. The potential role models and guides I might have had were wiped out. The people who were going to protect me were eliminated. We're still recovering from that. I'm only getting the attention I'm getting because I survived. The attention was supposed to be spread out across a vibrant community. I try to be as attentive and careful as I can, because we're still recovering from the loss. Sometimes I get sloppy or frustrated or glib, but I try to be available and tender."

-Richard Siken, "A Conversation with Richard Siken," by Thomas Hobohm

link

[commonplaceheart]

"Some of the questions were meant to mess with me-- what do you think of hard-boiled eggs and the color orange?-- but I decided to answer them honestly as well: hard-boiled eggs are good in spinach salads and the color orange is sadder than the color tangerine. Sometimes it's just a matter of them not knowing how to ask. I remember not knowing how to ask."

-Richard Siken, "A Conversation with Richard Siken," by Thomas Hobohm

link