When she left, Anita took Mom's valise, the round one with the wooden handle from Eaton's department store. Mom was furious. She'd had it on hold at the store for weeks while she earned enough to ... [+]
down darkening stair
and spoke of the Great Edge,
Where heroes lay down their swords
rulers cast aside their crowns
and peasants doff their caps
to see—
To see a golden sky,
the edge of the world,
stretched before their faces.
To reach out their hands
and touch the face
of God.
To breathe in the sea spray,
to hear the cries of gulls
ever ringing in their ears.
They come to pray
to open the hollow cavity
of their chest and find
the whole universe,
the entire sundering ocean,
resting in their heart.