Eyes are at rest, the stars are setting.
Hushed are the stirrings of birds in their nests,
Of monsters in the ocean.

My Lord,
Each love is now alone with his beloved.
And I am alone with You.

Image above (and on front-page mastheads):"Pieta-Beloved" © 2011 Janet McKenzie www.janetmckenzie.com

Words above by Rabia al Basri
From Perfume of the Desert – Inspirations from Sufi Wisdom
Edited: A. Harvey and E. Hanut

I have no wit, no words, no tears;
My heart within me like a stone
Is numb'd too much for hopes or fears;
Look right, look left, I dwell alone;
I lift mine eyes, but dimm'd with grief
No everlasting hills I see;
My life is in the falling leaf:
O Jesus, quicken me.

My life is like a broken bowl,
A broken bowl that cannot hold
One drop of water for my soul
Or cordial in the searching cold;
Cast in the fire the perish'd thing;
Melt and remould it, till it be
A royal cup for Him, my King:
O Jesus, drink of me.

Image above (and on front-page mastheads): Fresco of the "white angel" at Mileševa monastery, 2012, photograph by Snežana Trifunović. (This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)

Words above: "A Better Resurrection" by Christina Rosetti. From Goblin Market, The Prince's Progress and Other Poems. London: Macmillan 1879.

Sitting in the back of the Unit's Dining Room,
laughing & laughing.

It all goes away, you understand, all the memories...
of family Sunday dinners & Midwest childhoods
& a young girl's dance.
And more.

It ALL goes away, memories & stories
taking flight like birds that have stayed
too long in the Fall, and felt a North Wind.

Awayyyyyyyyyyyy it all goes,
even Dignity, of course —
until all that is left is
laughter & companionship.
What else really matters?

A Flock of Memories will wait for us
on the far side of The Green Hill,
like children excited at our Return.

Seen above (and on front-page mastheads): Photography & Words by Scott Fisher.