--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As if my finger, / tracing your…" description: "\"“As if my finger, / tracing your collarbone / behind closed doors, / was enough / to erase myself.”\" — Ocean Vuong" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d0/ocean-vuong-23952_behind-closed-doors_as-if-my-finger-tracing-your-collarbone_843575.jpg" --- # As if my finger, / tracing your collarbone / behind closed… ![“As if my finger, / tracing your collarbone / behind closed doors, / was enough / to erase myself.” quote by Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d0/ocean-vuong-23952_behind-closed-doors_as-if-my-finger-tracing-your-collarbone_843575.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d0/ocean-vuong-23952_behind-closed-doors_as-if-my-finger-tracing-your-collarbone_843575.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d0/ocean-vuong-23952_behind-closed-doors_as-if-my-finger-tracing-your-collarbone_843575.jpg) > ““As if my finger, / tracing your collarbone / behind closed doors, / was enough / to erase myself.”” [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intimate physical closeness can feel like an attempt to erase one's identity, suggesting vulnerability and desire for connection. **In simple terms:** Physical intimacy can erase self. Key Takeaway Allow yourself to be vulnerable. Themes love identity vulnerability Mood intimate melancholic Type poetic reflective When to use this quote - intimate conversations - creative writing - therapy sessions - artistic expression Key Concepts psychology poetry human connection Questions to Reflect On - When have you felt you lost yourself in intimacy? - What does erasing yourself mean to you? A Different Perspective The desire to erase oneself may also signal loss of self. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Behind closed doors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behind-closed-doors/) [Closed door](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/closed-door/) [Collarbone Closed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collarbone-closed-669262/) [Finger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finger/) [Finger Tracing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finger-tracing-669261/) [Tracing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tracing/) [Tracing Collarbone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tracing-collarbone-669260/) ## Related quotes > [That which rises and sinks is made up of what it rises from. The finality of the universe is the God Arunachala. Meditating on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/that-which-rises-and-sinks-is-made-up-of-what-it-rises-from-the/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [The East is marvellously interesting for tracing our steps back. But for going forward, it is nothing. All it can hope for is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/the-east-is-marvellously-interesting-for-tracing-our-steps-back-but/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [It is indeed a striking proof of the essential soundness of the tradition that with which all these thousands of copies, tracing their ancestry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-g-kenyon/it-is-indeed-a-striking-proof-of-the-essential-soundness-of-the/) [Frederic G. Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-g-kenyon/) > [“I have had my mother's wing of my genetic ancestry analyzed by the National Geographic tracing service and there it all is: the arrow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-have-had-my-mother-s-wing-of-my-genetic-ancestry-analyzed-by-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [We follow a certain pattern, a maze, if you will, every day, tracing our steps into certain districts and neighborhoods and back home. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvester-stallone/we-follow-a-certain-pattern-a-maze-if-you-will-every-day-tracing-our/) [Sylvester Stallone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvester-stallone/) > [Poetry is a tracing of the trajectories of a finite sound to the infinite points of its echoes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sandburg/poetry-is-a-tracing-of-the-trajectories-of-a-finite-sound-to-the/) [Carl Sandburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sandburg/) > [That is my drawing. NO tracing just sketching :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-is-my-drawing-no-tracing-just-sketching/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ The artist must be a philosopher. Socrates the skilled sculptor, Jean-Jacques \[Rousseau\] the good musician, and the immortal Poussin, tracing on the canvas the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-louis-david/the-artist-must-be-a-philosopher-socrates-the-skilled-sculptor-jean/) [Jacques-Louis David](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-louis-david/) > [What we experience in various and specific milieux, I have noted, is often caused by structural changes. Accordingly, to understand the changes of many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-wright-mills/what-we-experience-in-various-and-specific-milieux-i-have-noted-is/) [C. Wright Mills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-wright-mills/) > [A rare book at once of great importance and wonderful to read… Gould presents a fascinating historical study of scientific racism, tracing it through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/a-rare-book-at-once-of-great-importance-and-wonderful-to-read-gould/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Tintoretto attempted to fill the line of Michelangelo with color, without tracing its principle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-fuseli/tintoretto-attempted-to-fill-the-line-of-michelangelo-with-color/) [Henry Fuseli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-fuseli/) > [Reading a text is more like tracing this process of constant flickering than it is like counting the beads on a necklace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/reading-a-text-is-more-like-tracing-this-process-of-constant/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [In reviewing my life, in tracing its course, I fill my cell with the pleasure of being what for want of a trifle I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-genet/in-reviewing-my-life-in-tracing-its-course-i-fill-my-cell-with-the/) [Jean Genet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-genet/) > [It would be most wholesome if for at least twenty years art historians were forbidden to refer to any derivations. If they were not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-arnheim/it-would-be-most-wholesome-if-for-at-least-twenty-years-art/) [Rudolf Arnheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-arnheim/) > [Obama is not just a powerful speaker, but a thinker engaged with the ideas of his country and his age--this argument by historian James…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-minow/obama-is-not-just-a-powerful-speaker-but-a-thinker-engaged-with-the/) [Martha Minow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-minow/) ## More by Ocean Vuong > [“It is no accident, Ma, that the comma resembles a fetus— that curve of continuation. We were all once inside our mothers, saying with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/it-is-no-accident-ma-that-the-comma-resembles-a-fetus-that-curve-of/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“Green waves surround this black rock where I sit turning bones to sonatas. Fingers blurred, I play what I know from listening to orchards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/green-waves-surround-this-black-rock-where-i-sit-turning-bones-to/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“I watched, through the keyhole, not the man showering, but the rain falling through him: guitar strings snapping over his globed shoulders”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/i-watched-through-the-keyhole-not-the-man-showering-but-the-rain/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“Brooklyn’s too cold tonight & all my friends are three years away. My mother said I could be anything I wanted—but I chose to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/brooklyn-s-too-cold-tonight-all-my-friends-are-three-years-away-my/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“Your father is only your father until one of you forgets. Like how the spine won't remember its wings no matter how many times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/your-father-is-only-your-father-until-one-of-you-forgets-like-how-the/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“The most beautiful part of your body is where it’s headed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/the-most-beautiful-part-of-your-body-is-where-it-s-headed/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“God must be a season, grandma said, looking out at the blizzard drowning her garden. My footsteps on the sidewalk were the smallest flights.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/god-must-be-a-season-grandma-said-looking-out-at-the-blizzard/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“Gravity breaking our kneecaps just to show us the sky.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/gravity-breaking-our-kneecaps-just-to-show-us-the-sky/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“I hold the gun & wonder if an entry wound in the night would make a hole wide as morning”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/i-hold-the-gun-wonder-if-an-entry-wound-in-the-night-would-make-a/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“In a world myriad as ours, the gaze is a singular act: to look at something is to fill your whole life with it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/in-a-world-myriad-as-ours-the-gaze-is-a-singular-act-to-look-at/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“Some people say history moves in a spiral, not the line we have come to expect. We travel through time in a circular trajectory,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/some-people-say-history-moves-in-a-spiral-not-the-line-we-have-come/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“use it to prove how the stars were always what we knew they were: the exit wounds of every misfired word”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/use-it-to-prove-how-the-stars-were-always-what-we-knew-they-were-the/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“I am writing you from inside a body that used to be yours. Which is to say, I am writing as a son.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/i-am-writing-you-from-inside-a-body-that-used-to-be-yours-which-is-to/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“When they ask you where you're from, tell them your name was fleshed from the toothless mouth of a war-woman. That you were not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/when-they-ask-you-where-you-re-from-tell-them-your-name-was-fleshed/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) > [“Woke up screaming with no sound. The room filling with a bluish water called dawn. Went to kiss grandma on the forehead just in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/woke-up-screaming-with-no-sound-the-room-filling-with-a-bluish-water/) [Ocean Vuong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) [Explore all 24 Ocean Vuong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/) ## More Behind closed doors quotes > [“Eventually, Edgard said, “She doesn’t know anything about me. Not even that we were roping partners. Not that we were…” He looked at Trevor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorelei-james/eventually-edgard-said-she-doesn-t-know-anything-about-me-not-even/) [Lorelei James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorelei-james/) > [“The lawyers ceded their right to argue to case before the justices. A verdict would be rendered in secret, behind closed doors, with only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-berard/the-lawyers-ceded-their-right-to-argue-to-case-before-the-justices-a/) [Adrienne Berard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-berard/) > [“International leaders in business, government, and nonprofit organizations whisper behind closed doors about the way visiting Americans live in their own bubbles without having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-livermore/international-leaders-in-business-government-and-nonprofit/) [David Livermore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-livermore/) > [“It’s amazing how people can change behind closed doors.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-forward/it-s-amazing-how-people-can-change-behind-closed-doors/) [Susan Forward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-forward/) > [Sometimes the ones who seem the most holy in public are the ones hiding the most dirty of secrets behind closed doors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sashauni-aaeliyae/sometimes-the-ones-who-seem-the-most-holy-in-public-are-the-ones/) [Sashauni Aaeliyae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sashauni-aaeliyae/) > [Others like City Hall the old way, when they could make deals behind closed doors with your tax money.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-miller/others-like-city-hall-the-old-way-when-they-could-make-deals-behind/) [Laura Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-miller/) > [To all those I've loved I can't take this any more, By the time you read this, I'll be waiting at Hell's door. I'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-all-those-i-ve-loved-i-can-t-take-this-any-more-by-the-time-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One two, and you don't stop, yo, My eyes is sore, bein a senator, Behind closed doors hittin truth to the seafloor, The rich…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wu-tang/one-two-and-you-don-t-stop-yo-my-eyes-is-sore-bein-a-senator-behind/) [Wu Tang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wu-tang/) > [What you don't know is when she get home and get behind closed doors, man she hit the floor and what you can't see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mary/what-you-don-t-know-is-when-she-get-home-and-get-behind-closed-doors/) [Mary Mary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mary/) > [Seen too many ratchet ass hoes gettin sitcom. Behind closed doors all they do is suck d\*ck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/webbie/seen-too-many-ratchet-ass-hoes-gettin-sitcom-behind-closed-doors-all/) [Webbie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/webbie/) > [“If anything should take place behind closed doors, it was cruelty and betrayal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-st-aubyn/if-anything-should-take-place-behind-closed-doors-it-was-cruelty-and/) [Edward St. Aubyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-st-aubyn/) > [If Im not good enough to be taken out in public. Im too good for you behind closed doors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-im-not-good-enough-to-be-taken-out-in-public-im-too-good-for-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fighting behind closed doors is like going back to be an amateur, or your early days as a professional. Up and coming fighters can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dereck-chisora/fighting-behind-closed-doors-is-like-going-back-to-be-an-amateur-or/) [Dereck Chisora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dereck-chisora/) > [“Consider standing in honor and transparency whether behind closed doors or if those doors are open to the world at large.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loren-weisman/consider-standing-in-honor-and-transparency-whether-behind-closed/) [Loren Weisman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loren-weisman/) > [“Poor innocent baby, about to get fleeced. "Tut-tut, gorgeous. You know when you play poker with a man behind closed doors, there is only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/poor-innocent-baby-about-to-get-fleeced-tut-tut-gorgeous-you-know/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) [Browse all 207 Behind closed doors quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behind-closed-doors/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“As if my finger, / tracing your collarbone / behind closed doors, / was enough / to erase myself.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ocean Vuong" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/as-if-my-finger-tracing-your-collarbone-behind-closed-doors-was/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Behind closed doors" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/as-if-my-finger-tracing-your-collarbone-behind-closed-doors-was/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d0/ocean-vuong-23952_behind-closed-doors_as-if-my-finger-tracing-your-collarbone_843575.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d0/ocean-vuong-23952_behind-closed-doors_as-if-my-finger-tracing-your-collarbone_843575.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d0/ocean-vuong-23952_behind-closed-doors_as-if-my-finger-tracing-your-collarbone_843575.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“As if my finger, / tracing your collarbone / behind closed doors, / was enough / to erase myself.” — Ocean Vuong", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ocean Vuong", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ocean-vuong/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“As if my finger, / tracing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/as-if-my-finger-tracing-your-collarbone-behind-closed-doors-was/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ocean-vuong/as-if-my-finger-tracing-your-collarbone-behind-closed-doors-was/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```