Life is work

"Goddamn it," he said,
cursing again, though he knew
she hated it,

"we have to go on, don't you see that?"

His eyes were huge, apoplectic,
his face flushed.

"Life goes on, and what does life mean?
Life means work, Marantha, work.
And work is what I intend to do."

-- T.C. Boyle, San Miguel
(arranged quote)

Out upon the earth

She was out of doors,
only that,
and it came to her
that it was the first time
she'd been out
in days.

The house loomed at her back,
but she never turned her head.

She was watching her feet, concentrating
on keeping her balance
in the roiling sepia
mud that clung to the
toes of her boots and
sucked at her heels.

The rain drummed
at the parasol.

Everything smelled
of fresh-turned earth.

-- T.C. Boyle, San Miguel
(arranged quote)