Quote by: Mark Doty

I’d write and read and let myself, a little at a time, step down into myself- like a stairway down into a dark, intimate kiva- where the work of vigil is taking place, the necessary attending. I imagine there’s a little fire burning in there, a few steadily glowing embers, and a quiet chant going on, from me, from some singer in me, honoring and accompanying W’s soul, which is with him as he is making his passage. ..there’s a leavetaking in process, a movement towards increasing simplicity, away from complexity, activity, expectation. The bout of paranoia, with a childlike quality of being threatened, seems part of that-like a day or two when he couldn’t just let go and float on the energies of other people, who are bearing him up-but had to doubt them, struggle. So much better when he can trust and float. There’s enough love around him to carry him now…


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Author Bio


  • NameMark Doty
  • DescriptionNovelist, memoirist
  • BornAugust 10, 1953
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionPoet
  • AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship; Lambda Literary Award; National Book Award