In Autumn 2009, Olivia Dresher began posting at Twitter in spontaneous bursts. In 2019, she published a selection of these writings in a book titled A Silence of Words. Now, in 2023, she’s still writing at Twitter and has gathered together another volume, Fragments of a Failed Mystic. Chosen spontaneously from a total of over 68,000 posts, these poetic brevities “make each moment alive,” as one of her followers put it. And as Dresher herself posted, “What am I doing, writing these heartfelt words at Twitter? Am I trying to give Twitter a heart? Am I trying to give technology a heart?”
Coming soon.
346
Suddenly, it’s the past.
347
He was never who he really was, and she was too much herself.
348
I trust my own feelings too much.
I let them take me wherever they want to go.
349
My cello is much wiser than my guitar.
350
She spent the afternoon daydreaming about what his daydreaming might be like.
351
Walking down Broadway, I looked at people as if I’d never seen humans before.
352
Lute music… like a gentle fire in my fireplace.
353
What if crows learned how to sing sweet songs.
Would their personalities change?
354
While reading his words, I have to also look up at the sky to make sure it’s not falling.
355
My words have become a search for the right words.
356
The way early childhood joins the elements…
357
To breathe is to trust.
358
What is socializing?
It’s pretending to be on the same side.
359
I’m so lost without a melody. But why?
Because I’m always trying to harmonize.
360
The way sorrows crash like thunder, making joy hide in fear.
361
Almost means everything to me.
362
The most amazing thing about non-human animals:
they’re always naked.
363
A completely uncensored inner life…
by Olivia Dresher
