pal o' me heart

At Swim, Two Boys is I think the most wonderful novel I've ever read. A tender tale of Doyler and Jim, an epic story of Ireland and love. Vivid, lyrical, glorious prose. Very. glorious. prose. Very heartwarming, very heartbreaking, and very, very beautiful.

*

'Do you miss him?'

Doyler sighed, and with that breath spilt all the tide of his loneliness and fears. 'I miss him, aye,' he said. 'He was pal o' me heart, so he was. I try not to think of him, only I can't get him off my mind. He's with me always day and night. I do see him places he's never been, in the middle of a crowd I see him. His face looks out from the top of a tram, a schoolboy wouldn't pass but I'm thinking it's him. I try to make him go away, for I'm a soldier now and I'm under orders. But he's always there and I'm desperate to hold him. I doubt I'm a man except he's by me.

*

It is hard not to fall in love with Doyler, with this gem of a heart, with this breathtaking declaration of love.

王菲 | passenger

We pass an overhead bridge. There are more to come. It is such a straightforward journey, we shall arrive before we know it. I am sitting in your car, listening to the songs playing on. We are happy. Then the first lamplight. What are you thinking about? That singer has a happy voice. Sitting in your car, listening to the songs playing on. I as not unhappy. Those white clouds has a tinge of sadness; the blue sky a bit of grey. I am to be reaching home. I as the first passenger of your car. I am not unhappy. The sky is now blood red. The stars are now silver and ash. And where is your loved one now?