TO
Marsha Manning and Peter Aller who heard it first
You take my life
When you do take the means
whereby I live.
– WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
The Merchant of Venice (1597),
Act IV, Scene I
… there’s nothing like a kiss long
and hot down to your soul
almost paralyses you…
– JAMES JOYCE
Molly Bloom’s soliloquy
from Ulysses (1922)