“Solar EclipseEach morningI wake invisible.I make a needlefrom a porcupine quill,sew feet to legs,lift spine onto my thighs.I put on my rib and collarbone.I pin an ear to my head,hear the waxwing's yellow cry.I open my mouth for purple berries,stick on periwinkle eyes.I almost know what it is to be seen.My throat enlarges from anger.I make a hand to hold my pain.My heart a hole the size of the sun's eclipse.I push through the dark circle'stattered edge of light.All day I struggle with one hair after anotheruntil the moon moves from the face of the sunand there is a strange lightas though from a kerosene lamp in a cabin.I pun on a dress,a shawl over my shoulders.My threads knotted and scissors gleaming.Now I know I am seen.I have a shadow.I extend my arms,dance and chant in the sun's new light.I put a hat and coat on my shadow,another larger dress.I put on more shawls and blouses and underskirtsuntil even the shadow has substance”

“I stretched out my hands, holding the falling sun in one hand, and the climbing moon in the other, my silver and gold, my gift from life. My gift of life. My life is a hesitation in time. An opening in a cave. A gap for a word.”

“The pain over my heart returns, and from it I imagine tiny fissures spreading out into my body. Through my torso, down my arms and legs, over my face, leaving it crisscrossed with cracks. One good jolt...and I could shatter into strange razor-sharp shards.”

“I moved my hand in and out of the shadow and pondered life and death. Then I put on my lipstick, pulled up my pants, and got back to work.”

“I laughed as I twisted to face him and raised my arm to hit in one move. He caught my wrist and my laugh caught in my throat. A mischievous grin curved my mouth as I raised my other hand to hit him. He reached over me and caught that wrist too, gently pinning my arms above my head as he straddled my hips. The space between us boiled my blood.”

“my muscles are rigid with the tension of holding myself together. the pain over my heart returns, and from it i imagine tiny fissures spreading out into my body. through my torso, down my arms and legs, over my face, leaving it crisscrossed with cracks.”