I used to think those were the barrio rules, Latinos and blacks in, whites out —a place we down cats weren’t supposed to go. But love teaches you. Clears your head of any rules.

“Know that in this world there's somebody who will always love you.”

“Nothing more exhilarating (he wrote) than saving yourself by the simple act of …”

“She is sixteen and her skin is the darkness before the black, the plum of the d…”

“I watched commercial ave. slide past and there in the distance were the lights …”