The world stands out on either side.
No wider than the heart is wide.
Above the earth is stretched the sky
No higher than the soul is high.
~ from "Renascence" by Edna St. Vincent Millay
We have been silent. My mother is gathering small pine cones. We cross a wooden bridge and look down at the water. The mud hens come toward us, dragging a ripple of light across the water. Never in my life have I brought anyone to this sacred place. I have come here for its silence, early in the morning. And she, for the first time in our life together knowing exactly what I need, enters with me in silence.