We started hearing about all the heartbreak people were going through and that's when we learned what kind of shape New Orleans was really in. Up until that point, we were still thinking we were going to be able to go back.

And everyone there has some connection with one another. Everyone you talk to seems to have something in common.

but i've slammed the door to my inner self; if he ever wants to force the lock again, he'll have to use a harder crowbar!

I'm definitely hearing that. We're hearing that from all over the state, not just in the Houston area.

My heart is too thoroughly dried to be broken in a hurry, and I mean to live as long as I can.

Do you like me?”
No answer.
Silence bounced, fell off his tongue
and sat between us
and clogged my throat.
It slaughtered my trust.
It tore cigarettes out of my mouth.
We exchanged blind words,
and I did not cry,
I did not beg,
but blackness filled my ears,
blackness lunged in my heart,
and something that had been good,
a sort of kindly oxygen,
turned into a gas oven.