quote compilation: widow's work

[leeseokmin]

we were assigned readings on raymond carver, and then an article on his relationship with both his editor gordon lish and his wife, tess galagher. there was a part of the article that stood out to me.

Who looks after an author's work after he or she dies? Usually, it's the writer's spouse or lover; sometimes
it's another family member, a friend or a scholar. These watchdogs are formally known as executors -- and
informally as keepers of the flame.

Keepers of the flame must make decisions about everything from the placement of archives to posthumous
publication. They tend to be loyal, beleaguered and a bit capricious. Their ace in the hole is permission to
quote from the work, a power that prompted the following advice from the biographer Justin Kaplan: Shoot
the widow ... At times, all this vigilance can seem thankless ... Alas, not all the work in the world will bring the beloved back. As Elaine Steinbeck says: The hardest part of being a keeper of the flame is just being lonely for your husband. I think we would all say the same thing.

What is grief, if not love persevering?
WandaVision S01E08, Laura Donney

home is wherever the grief washes off your hands with the most ease.
While Watching the Music Video for ‘Only One’ at Midnight, Kanye West Walks Into the Fog Holding His Daughter in His Arms & I Can See the Clouds Outside of My Window Parting Into Two Wings, Hanif Abdurraqib

grief makes a vessel / of your body / just as water / takes the shape of its container / seeping in / through the cracks / in the floorboards / through the membrane / of your cells
I Call Grief By My Mother’s Name, Ally Ang

I would love to ‘move on.’ But I carry you around like a scar,
forgetting sometimes that it is even there
until I follow a stranger’s eye to it during a handshake.
Interior Design, Bianca Stone

Again the gods put their large hands in me,
move me, break my heart like a clay jar of wine,
loosen a beast from some darklong depth—
my melancholy is hoofed.
Grief Work, Natalie Diaz

Comments

[sunwalkr]

the wandavision one blows my mind to smithereens but i would say of this collection the bianca stone one is my favorite

[leeseokmin]

oooh, my personal fave is the ally ang one but i always am a slut for water/ocean metaphors lol

[latespring]

i have been thrown in a washing machine thank u, the water metaphors are really killer. this theme is one of my favorites to think about and this captures the feeling really well

[nightsofsilver]

I love these quotes! It's all so beautiful and sad