I was rereading my blog archives the other day and found all the dedications back and forth between Michael Dorris and Louise Erdrich. They move me now as they always have. Last week I found myself flipping through a book of Dubus short stories and saw that Ashby had given it to me, with the inscription that I had taught him always to read the dedication in a book. I’m happy to have taught him that – the dedication is often one of my favorite parts of a book. For today, another set of dedications, these to and from Anne Sexton:

“To the one with her head out the window, drinking the rain.
To the one who said me a lullabye over the phone.
To the one who, divining love in this rocky terrain, has made it her own.”
George Starbuck, dedicating Bone Thoughts to Anne Sexton

“My beautiful kind Blessing, my discovered love … In the midst of everything you do you can know you are utterly loved … I survive by sitting and thinking of you.”
James Wright, to Anne Sexton

“I want to say a plain say of love, of my love … You are not the man of my dreams. You are my life.”
Anne Sexton, to Kayo Sexton (1963)