“But when the springtime turns to dust(A thousand shades of blood and rust)And everything is ash and stone(Contagion writ in blood and bone)Then what exists to have and hold?(What story, then, has not been told?)Let this be my sacred vow(O Mother Mary hear me now):I will not fail, I will not fall(Though Heaven, Hell and Chaos call).We are the children of the Risen.This world our home, this prayer our prison.”

“Earth, Ashes to ashes and dust to dust in mother earth we place our trust and as we cycle through our years we water it with blood and tears...”

“Some people think we’re made of flesh and blood and bones. Scientists say we’re made of atoms. But I think we are made of stories. When we die, that’s what people remember, the stories of our lives and the stories that we told.”

“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, what the hell did thatmean anyway? Was it supposed to be a consoling thought,understanding her mother was now nothing more than decaying fleshand bones?”

“What beyond the sunrise and set, beyond body and mind? What then when body and mind have left me, and I am but dust and ash molten with Earth? What then when all that has been left are my words, like this, now, and you are not you, yet another, reading? What immense wonder we are blessed with. Grasp my hand, do not let go. This flight is simply fantastic." - Susan Marie”

“Everything we knew condemned us, and our questioning condemned us most of all. Knowledge was the way of our people, and knowledge was dangerous. It was the first thing that freed you and the thing that put you in peril. It was the key to the ten gates. I saw them clearly now, each and every one, the gates that were there for me. Ashes, Bones, Grass, Heart, Stone, Love, Sorrow, Blood, Earth, Sky.”