She had no existence, in herself. From earliest childhood she had believed this. Rather she was a reflecting surface, reflecting others' perception o… - Joyce Carol Oates

Oh, we women know things you don't know, you teachers, you readers and writers of books, we are the ones who wait around libraries when it's time to leave, or sit drinking coffee alone in the kitchen; we make crazy plans for marriage but have no man, we dream of stealing men, we are the ones who look slowly around when we get off a bus and can't even find what we are looking for, can't quite remember how we got there, we are always wondering what will come next, what terrible thing will come next. We are the ones who leaf through magazines with colored pictures and spend long heavy hours sunk in our bodies, thinking, remembering, dreaming, waiting for something to come to us and give a shape to so much pain.

Was it confusing because it was artistic, or artistic because it was confusing?

It's one of those secrets that's embarrassing to acknowledge, but we do love our students.