--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: we do not explain my husband's insane…" description: "\"we do not explain my husband's insane abuse and we do not say why your wild-haired wife has fled or that my father opened like a walnut and then was de..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11e/anne-sexton-645_abuse_we-do-not-explain-my-husband-s-insane-ab_2091686.jpg" --- # we do not explain my husband's insane abuse and we do not… ![“we do not explain my husband's insane abuse and we do not say why your wild-haired wife has fled or that my father opened like a walnut and then was dead. Your palms fold over me like knees. Love is the only use.” quote by Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11e/anne-sexton-645_abuse_we-do-not-explain-my-husband-s-insane-ab_2091686.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11e/anne-sexton-645_abuse_we-do-not-explain-my-husband-s-insane-ab_2091686.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11e/anne-sexton-645_abuse_we-do-not-explain-my-husband-s-insane-ab_2091686.jpg) > “we do not explain my husband's insane abuse and we do not say why your wild-haired wife has fled or that my father opened like a walnut and then was dead. Your palms fold over me like knees. Love is the only use.” [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Violent domestic abuse and abandonment are described through surreal, fragmented imagery, highlighting love as a sole refuge. **In simple terms:** Abuse and escape are chaotic; love remains. Key Takeaway Seek love amid trauma. Themes abuse escape love Mood somber intense Type poetic emotional When to use this quote - counseling - support groups - personal healing Key Concepts psychological trauma surrealism Questions to Reflect On - What does love mean in painful contexts? - How can one find safety beyond love? A Different Perspective Love alone may not resolve systemic abuse. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) [Abuse Say](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse-say-4137333/) [Explain Husband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/explain-husband-4137332/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Father](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/father/) [Folds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/folds/) [Husband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/husband/) [Insane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insane/) [Knees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knees/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-is/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [My husband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/my-husband/) [Palms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/palms/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Walnuts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/walnuts/) [Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife/) ## Related quotes > [The one thing I cannot tolerate in life is seeing people being taken advantage of, I cannot tolerate it; I can't even see it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eva-mendes/the-one-thing-i-cannot-tolerate-in-life-is-seeing-people-being-taken/) [Eva Mendes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eva-mendes/) > [The future is a fog that is still hanging out over the sea, a boat that floats home or does not. The trade winds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/the-future-is-a-fog-that-is-still-hanging-out-over-the-sea-a-boat/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [All I wanted was a little piece of life, to be married, to have children… I was trying my damnedest to lead a conventional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/all-i-wanted-was-a-little-piece-of-life-to-be-married-to-have/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“Flaking florentine rounds,' he whispered. 'Peaches in snow-cream.' 'No,' she murmured. 'No more.' 'Meat pies. Mutton balls topped with spinach and walnuts and cumin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-norfolk/flaking-florentine-rounds-he-whispered-peaches-in-snow-cream-no-she/) [Lawrence Norfolk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-norfolk/) > [We do not ask the mountain's aid to crack a walnut.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/we-do-not-ask-the-mountain-s-aid-to-crack-a-walnut/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) > [Walnuts are so rich. I also love that you can chew them for five minutes. Then I eat a couple of golden raisins as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-guarnaschelli/walnuts-are-so-rich-i-also-love-that-you-can-chew-them-for-five/) [Alex Guarnaschelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-guarnaschelli/) > [On my cornice linger the ripe black grapes ungathered; Children fill the groves with the echoes of their glee, Gathering tawny chestnuts, and shouting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-c-bryant/on-my-cornice-linger-the-ripe-black-grapes-ungathered-children-fill/) [William C. Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-c-bryant/) > [Her eyes, walnut brown and shaded by fanned lashes, met mine. Held for a moment. Flew away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/her-eyes-walnut-brown-and-shaded-by-fanned-lashes-met-mine-held-for-a/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [There rises the moon, broad and tranquil, through the branches of a walnut tree on a hill opposite. I apostrophize it in the words…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/there-rises-the-moon-broad-and-tranquil-through-the-branches-of-a/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [On a grander scale, when a society segregates itself, the consequences affect the economy, the emotions, and the ecology. That's one reason why it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-salatin/on-a-grander-scale-when-a-society-segregates-itself-the-consequences/) [Joel Salatin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-salatin/) > [The camera hound of the future wears on his forehead a lump a little larger than a walnut.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vannevar-bush/the-camera-hound-of-the-future-wears-on-his-forehead-a-lump-a-little/) [Vannevar Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vannevar-bush/) > [I could eat black walnut all the time, it's not a flavor of the week!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-cain/i-could-eat-black-walnut-all-the-time-it-s-not-a-flavor-of-the-week/) [Herman Cain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-cain/) > [The cross is like a walnut whose outer rind is bitter, but the inner kernel is pleasant and invigorating. So the cross does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadhu-sundar-singh/the-cross-is-like-a-walnut-whose-outer-rind-is-bitter-but-the-inner/) [Sadhu Sundar Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadhu-sundar-singh/) > [Sniper is a movie whose politics are so ludicrous and idiotic that under normal circumstances it would be beneath criticism. The only thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/sniper-is-a-movie-whose-politics-are-so-ludicrous-and-idiotic-that/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [Arnold Schwarzenegger looks like a brown condom full of walnuts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-james/arnold-schwarzenegger-looks-like-a-brown-condom-full-of-walnuts/) [Clive James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-james/) ## More by Anne Sexton > [Blind with love, my daughter has cried nightly for horses, those long-necked marchers and churners that she has mastered, any and all, reigning them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/blind-with-love-my-daughter-has-cried-nightly-for-horses-those-long/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I am crazy as hell, but I know it. 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Out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-want-to-kiss-god-on-his-nose-and-watch-him-sneeze-and-so-do-you-not/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I, in my brand new body, which was not a woman's yet, told the stars my questions and thought God could really see the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-in-my-brand-new-body-which-was-not-a-woman-s-yet-told-the-stars-my/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Father, you died once, salted down at fifty-nine, packed down like a big snow angel, wasn't that enough?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/father-you-died-once-salted-down-at-fifty-nine-packed-down-like-a-big/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [When I'm writing, I know I'm doing the thing I was born to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/when-i-m-writing-i-know-i-m-doing-the-thing-i-was-born-to-do/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Cinderella and the prince lived, they say, happily ever after, like two dolls in a museum case never bothered by diapers or dust, never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/cinderella-and-the-prince-lived-they-say-happily-ever-after-like-two/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [“Quite collected at cocktail parties, meanwhile in my head I'm undergoing open-heart surgery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/quite-collected-at-cocktail-parties-meanwhile-in-my-head-i-m/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [I cannot walk an inch / without trying to walk to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/i-cannot-walk-an-inch-without-trying-to-walk-to-god/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) > [Now that I have written many words, and let out so many loves, for so many, and been altogether what I always was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/now-that-i-have-written-many-words-and-let-out-so-many-loves-for-so/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) [Explore all 428 Anne Sexton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) ## More Abuse quotes > [I wrote when I was a young teen, but I didn't put an eye on the available markets until I was seventeen. The next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-reed/i-wrote-when-i-was-a-young-teen-but-i-didn-t-put-an-eye-on-the/) [Robert Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-reed/) > [Amongst the financial Twitterati, the term 'muppets' has come to describe any client used and abused by some financial predator. I've adopted the term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/amongst-the-financial-twitterati-the-term-muppets-has-come-to/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [Being nice is okay,but don't allow anybody to abuse it...try to fight for your self when you know your on the right way...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-nice-is-okay-but-don-t-allow-anybody-to-abuse-it-try-to-fight/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Build a bridge over shame by teaching kids about sexual abuse. Give them a chance to run to us should they encounter it. 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They will mirror your actions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hadinet-tekie/words-are-free-it-does-not-mean-you-should-abuse-them-be-kind-with/) [Hadinet Tekie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hadinet-tekie/) > [My illness is one often characterized by dramatic overspending - in my case through frenzied shopping sprees, credit card abuse, excessive hoarding of unnecessary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-behrman/my-illness-is-one-often-characterized-by-dramatic-overspending-in-my/) [Andy Behrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-behrman/) [Browse all 3,113 Abuse quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abuse/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "we do not explain my husband's insane abuse and we do not say why your wild-haired wife has fled or that my father opened like a walnut and then was dead. Your palms fold over me like knees. 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