Change, When It Comes, Cracks Everything Open.

I Was Born Trash In A Land Where The People All Believe Themselves Natural Aristocrats.

He Never Said "don't Tell Your Mama." He Never Had To Say It. I Did Not Know How To Tell Anyone What I Felt, What Scared Me And Shamed Me... (109)

People Don't Do Right Because Of The Fear Of God Or Love Of Him. You Do Right Because The World Doesn't Make Sense If You Don't.

I Wanted To Start Over Completely, To Begin Again As New People With Nothing Of The Past Left Over. I Wanted To Run Away From Who We Had Been Seen To Be, Who We Had Been... It's The First Thing I Think Of When Trouble Comes - The Geographic Solution. Change Your Name, Leave Town, Disappear, Make Yourself Over. What Hides Behind That Impulse Is The Conviction That The Life You Have Lived, The Person You Are, Is Valueless, Better Off Abandoned, That Running Away Is Easier Than Trying To Change Things, That Change Itself Is Not Possible.

And Of Course These Days I Feel Like There Is A Nation Of Us - Displaced Southerners And Children Of The Working Class. We Listen To Steve Earle, Mary J. Blige, And K.d. Lang. We Devour Paperback Novels And Tell Evil Mean Stories, Value Stubbornness Above Patience And A Sense Of Humor More Than A College Education. We Claim Our Heritage With A Full Appreciation Of How Often It Has Been Disdained. And Let Me Promise You, You Do Not Want To Make Us Angry.