Gettysburg College

An essay examining how Leslie M. Silko utilizes the relationship between Nature and Native American Mystic Arts to create a full and vibrant world in her novel Ceremony

Record, Ashton Q.

Student Publications Student Scholarship 
Winter 2022 
Nature, Magic, and Healing: How Leslie Silko Builds Her Native 
World 
Ashton Q. Record 
Gettysburg College 
Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship 
 Part of the American Literature Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, and the Literature in 
English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural Minority Commons 
Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. 
Recommended Citation 
Record, Ashton Q., "Nature, Magic, and Healing: How Leslie Silko Builds Her Native World" (2022). Student 
Publications. 986. 
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/986 
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by 
permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution. Cupola permanent link: 
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/986 
This open access student research paper is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has 
been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact 
cupola@gettysburg.edu. 
Nature, Magic, and Healing: How Leslie Silko Builds Her Native World 
Abstract 
An essay examining how Leslie M. Silko utilizes the relationship between Nature and Native American 
Mystic Arts to create a full and vibrant world in her novel Ceremony. 
Keywords 
Magic, Native American, Healing, Writing, Nature 
Disciplines 
American Literature | Indigenous Studies | Literature in English, North America, Ethnic and Cultural 
Minority 
Comments 
Written for ENG 113: Writing In and About the Native American Tradition 
This student research paper is available at The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College: 
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/student_scholarship/986 
 Record  1 
 Ashton Record 
 Dr. Sellers 
 ENG 113 
 4/27/2022 
 Nature, Magic, and Healing: How Leslie Silko builds her native world 
 In Leslie Silko’s magnum opus  Ceremony , she utilizes  the remarkable relationship 
 between nature and the mystical arts in Native culture to develop a world that lives up to her 
 cultural heritage. This work contains some of the most beautiful and impactful writing ever seen 
 in the English language, and a large reason for this is Silko’s dedication to describing the majesty 
 of the earth and her many beautiful parts. She does this by demonstrating the power nature holds 
 in the ceremonies of healing, the brutal pain that comes from breaking the sacred bond with 
 nature, and the role nature plays in fulfilling one’s existence. 
 Throughout the entirety of the novel, the sequence of events surrounding the ceremony 
 Betonie performs on Tayo may be the most impactful example of the way Silko demonstrates the 
 power nature holds over the ceremonies used to heal the sick. This ceremony also does a 
 splendid job at expanding upon the mystic power integral to Native culture. She fills these pages 
 with descriptions of many different forms of nature, from the mundane to the unimaginable. 
 Silko begins Tayo’s experience by explaining how nature was assisting in his current state, which 
 was one of exhaustion and rejection “He stared at the dry yellow grass by the old man’s feet. The 
 sun’s heat was draining 
 his strength away; there was no place to now except back to the hospital in Los Angeles” (Silko 
 118). As Tayo meets Betonie and enters his hogan, he is clearly uneasy and even fearful of what 
 the old man may do to him “this would be the end of him. The Gallup police would find his body 
 Record  2 
 in the bushes along the big arroyo” (Silko 122), yet the whole time is subconsciously beginning 
 to pick up on the natural undertones this medicine man possessed “He could smell its contents; a 
 great variety of herb and root odors were almost hidden by the smell of mountain sage and 
 something as ordinary as curry powder” (119). Silko is utilizing these natural elements and plants 
 that hold a calming and revitalizing effect to explain Tayo’s slow and subtle transition from 
 cowardice to confidence. She is also using these natural things to make a clear point, which she 
 elaborates further with Tayo’s thoughts “The leftover things the whites didn’t want. All Betomie 
 owned in the world was in this room. What kind of healing power was this?” (127). To Tayo, he 
 has been raised by an aunt and cousin who throw away their own culture for what the 
 Euro-American culture deems appropriate, yet the only one who seems to be able to aid Tayo is 
 keeping exactly the sorts of things Tayo’s aunt would have thrown out without a second guess. 
 These things include many aspects of nature, from herbs and spices to bags of skin and animal 
 feet, all of which play immense roles in Betonie’s power. As the medicine man slowly begins to 
 zero in on Tayo’s struggles, he decides on a course of action. As the duo depart the hogan, Tayo’s 
 mood is changing, represented by the refreshing sensations nature is providing “He walked into 
 the evening air, which was cool and smelled like juniper smoke for the old man’s fire” (127). 
 Immediately, a new character, vital to the ceremony, arrives. This character, named Shush, 
 represents a mirror image of Tayo’s journey, a soul who drifted away from himself and needed 
 the help of the natural magic of a medicine man to return to himself. Tayo picks up on this, and 
 describes Shush’s state of being as “There was something strange about the boy, something 
 remote in his eyes, as if he were on a distant mountaintop alone and the fire and hogan and the 
 lights of the town below them did not exist” (128), which is again an example of Silko using 
 incredible examples of nature to describe the unique mystical elements of Native culture. As the 
 Record  3 
 formal ceremony approaches, Silko fills Tayo’s thoughts with a sense of respect for nature, and 
 an almost majestical tone; with lines like “The night air of the high mountains was chilled by the 
 light of the starts and the shadows of the moon” (Silko 138), “He smelled pinon and sage in the 
 wind that blew across the stony backbone of the ridge” (138), and “This was the highest place on 
 the earth: he could feel it. It had nothing to do with measurements or height. It was a special 
 place. He was smiling. He felt strong” (139). This establishes a sense of awe for the might of 
 these natural forces being used in this ceremony. When the ceremony is performed, it too is full 
 of natural forces. The entire setup of the ceremony involves incredible sand paintings which 
 depict beautiful natural scenes. The sand paintings are set up to depict a natural flow of energy, 
 which is set up by the mountain ranges Betonie paints “The old man painted a dark mountain 
 range beside the farthest hoop, the next closer, he painted blue, and moving toward him, he knelt 
 and made the yellow mountains; and in front of him, Betonie painted the white mountain range” 
 (142). Additionally, Tayo’s area is described as “He sat at the center of the white corn sand 
 painting. The rainbows crossed were in the painting behind him” (141), which directly correlates 
 with a native legend that depicts the unquestionable power of nature. This ceremony boils down 
 to a way to worship the flow of nature and bring one out of their natural place back to it, and 
 Tayo’s journey through the ceremony is carefully planned to do just that “They plotted the course 
 of the ceremony by the direction of dark night winds and by the colors of the clay in 
 drought-ridden valleys” (151). Ultimately, this ceremony was a demonstration of the Native 
 understanding of nature and the unique way it is used by Leslie Silko to explain the principles of 
 Native mystic arts. 
 The positive impacts of the bond between nature and the mystic arts are undeniable, 
 however the cost of breaking the sacred bond with nature is incredibly high in Silko’s work. 
 Record  4 
 There is no better example of the negative consequences Silko attributes to the abuse of nature 
 using mystic arts than Tayo’s constant guilt at causing the drought that is causing immense 
 suffering throughout the book. The scenario that causes Tayo to use his untapped mystic power is 
 a truly crushing moment in the book, which takes place during the Baton death march “Tayo 
 hated this unending rain as if it were the jungle green rain and not the miles of marching or the 
 Japanese grenade that was killing Rocky” (Silko 11). Tayo is truly suffering, and at the end of his 
 proverbial rope, and Silko only continues to build this sense of indescribable discomfort and 
 slow descent into utter desperation “The sound of the rain got louder, pondering on the leaves, 
 splashing into the ruts; it splattered on his head, and the sound echoed inside his skull” (12). 
 Eventually, Tayo makes a tragic mistake, one that fails to save his cousin or his fellow soldiers, 
 and instead does more harm than he could have ever imagined “So he prayed the rain away, and 
 for the sixth year it was dry” (14). Tayo does not realize the consequences of his actions right 
 away, or the power of the forces he was tampering with, yet the results were disastrous, and Silko 
 captures the results of a drought perfectly in one of the many poems in  Ceremony  “And there 
 was no more rain then. Everything dried up all the plants the corn the beans they all dried up and 
 started blowing away in the wind. The people and the animals were thirsty. They were starving” 
 (13). After Tayo returns home, he “could see the consequences of his praying” (14), and 
 ultimately he saw the effects that come with tampering with nature. An additional moment in the 
 novel where Silko captures the immense consequences of tampering with natural forces for evil 
 intent is the witches' conference. Here, witches, who “crawl into skins of dead animals, but they 
 can do nothing but play around with objects and bodies” (131), meet to show off their immensely 
 evil creations and impress the other witches. Silko describes the setting of this meeting “Way up 
 in the lava rock hills north of Canoncito they got together to fool around in caves with their 
 Record  5 
 animal skins. Fox, badger, bobcat, and wolf they circled the fire” (Silko 133), which develops a 
 sense of forbidding and unnatural feelings. Evidently, these witches are tampering with forces 
 they should not be, they are poisoning the collective spiritual energy of humanity and as a result, 
 they bring about the apocalypse for the culture “Stolen rivers and mountains the stolen land will 
 eat their hearts and jerk their mouths from the Mother. The people will starve” (136). This quote 
 comes from the tale of the origins of the white people who came and obliterated everything in 
 their path, destroying the natural ways of the natives, for they will “poison the water/they will 
 spin the water away and there will be drought the people will starve” (136). These white people 
 come as a direct result of the witchery being committed by these individuals, witchery that 
 involves forsaking the natural way and the proper mystic path, abusing both for one’s gain and 
 directly causing other’s suffering. Ultimately, their actions bring about the destruction of their 
 society and people. This is a pattern in many of the poems Silko includes in  Ceremony , each 
 featuring a different sort of mystic art or natural engagement that violates the laws of nature, and 
 as a result, a catastrophic event occurs that decimates the Native way of life. This, to Silko, is the 
 direct result of abusing the gift of the mystic arts to hurt the forces of nature, and thus the 
 consequences Tayo faces are the same as the many characters in the poem, and he must go 
 through a healing process to correct his great error. 
 Beyond the positive and negative role nature holds in the mystic arts of Native culture, 
 Silko also incorporates the immense power Nature has to help an individual feel fulfilled, to 
 ensure their soul finds value in the world. This theme of nature fueling one's soul is incredibly 
 central to Tayo’s journey of recovery and placation of the natural forces he abused. Unlike the 
 positive and negative application of mystic arts on nature, nature’s effect on the mystic aspects of 
 oneself does not feature one or two incredibly significant moments that contribute to most of the 
 Record  6 
 major ideas related to it, but instead, Silko feels the entire novel with language and descriptions 
 of the power of nature. During a conversation Josiah has with Tayo, he says “This sand, this 
 stone, these trees, the vines, all the wildflowers. This earth keeps us going” (Silko 45), which 
 encapsulates the idea that the power of nature is what fulfills humans, what makes one feel more 
 than an individual, and instead become a part of something deeper and more meaningful. Tayo 
 often drifts through the novel, attempting to put one foot in front of the other and find a way to 
 continue living. From the perspective of a broken man, nature is shown to slowly fill the many 
 cracks in his soul, not erasing them, but instead sealing the broken parts of him back together. In 
 a moment of true connection with nature, Tayo goes out into the desert to pray before departing 
 for war and connecting with nature. During his journey, the predawn desert has a certain 
 ambiance “The water oozed out from the dark orange sandstone at the base of the long mesa. He 
 waited for the sun to come over the hills” (93), which contributes to the wonder at Tayo’s 
 incredible moment of cultural connection when performing a sunrise prayer “the things he did 
 seemed right, as he imagined with his heart the rituals the cloud priest performed during a 
 drought” (94). While this sequence certainly displays Tayo’s innate connection with the 
 traditions of his people, it also develops the influence nature has on Tayo, filling him with a 
 sense of purpose and belonging, even if he does not yet feel that within himself. Even beyond 
 individuals, Silko brings nature and its many aspects to life, such as when she describes rain “It 
 was spinning out of the thunderclouds like gray spider webs and tangling against the foothills of 
 the mountain” (96), which contributes to the sense of power nature holds. While humans 
 certainly have the capacity to use nature for healing and harming many aspects of their lives, and 
 many do, nature itself has the capacity to do the same to humans. This power and influence is 
 what gave Tayo purpose and allowed him to once again feel that “being alive was all right then: 
 Record  7 
 he had not breathed like that for a long time” (Silko 181). Tayo has found peace once more, and 
 nature has welcomed him back into its flow for he has earned his return through careful prayer 
 and practice, as well as allowing his wounds to heal. Ultimately, the very power the medicine 
 men and witches use for their magic is held by nature itself, and nature uses this power to 
 maintain the proper flow of life throughout the world. 
 Overall, Leslie Silko uses the relationship between nature and the mystics arts to build a 
 proper understanding of Native spiritualism and natural power. The use of natural power during 
 healing ceremonies demonstrates how useful a proper connection with nature can be, and how 
 healing takes an ability to connect with the natural flow. The discussion on the consequences of 
 tampering with the natural flow of energy describes the immense weight one holds when 
 wielding natural forces, and how delicate one must be. The consistent use of the relationship 
 between nature and an individual goes to show how nature itself has immense power over every 
 human and having a positive relationship with nature will be very beneficial for anyone. Silko’s 
 masterful writing and inspiring connection with her culture is immensely clear throughout this 
 novel and the worldbuilding that the relationship between nature and the mystic arts coveys is 
 second to none in literature. 
 Record  8 
 Works Cited 
 Leslie Marmon Silko.  Ceremony . New York: The Viking  P, 1977. Print. 


English

Nature, Magic, and Healing: How Leslie Silko Builds Her Native World

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania\u27s courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.
Contents:   Updates from PA Governor\u27s Office: No new updates this month Updates from the PA Legislature Updates from the Courts  U.S. Supreme Court: No new updates this month PA Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedur

Chassie, Autumn R.

Criminal Justice Updates Public Policy 
2-2022 
Criminal Justice Update - February 2022 
Autumn R. Chassie 
Gettysburg College, chasau01@gettysburg.edu 
Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cjupdates 
 Part of the Criminology Commons, Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons, and the Public 
Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons 
Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. 
Recommended Citation 
Chassie, Autumn R., "Criminal Justice Update - February 2022" (2022). Criminal Justice Updates. 18. 
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cjupdates/18 
This is the author's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by 
permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution. Cupola permanent link: 
https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/cjupdates/18 
This open access newsletter is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been 
accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact 
cupola@gettysburg.edu. 
Criminal Justice Update - February 2022 
Abstract 
The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow 
providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania's courts and legislature as well as 
the US Supreme Court. 
Contents: 
• Updates from PA Governor's Office: No new updates this month 
• Updates from the PA Legislature 
• Updates from the Courts 
◦ U.S. Supreme Court: No new updates this month 
◦ PA Supreme Court: Criminal Law & Procedure 
◦ PA Superior Court: Criminal Law & Procedure 
Keywords 
Criminal Justice Update, Adams County Bar Foundation, ACBF 
Disciplines 
Criminology | Criminology and Criminal Justice | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration 
This newsletter is available at The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/
cjupdates/18 
 
                                            
 
February 2022 
 
Updates from PA Governor’s Office 
*No new updates this month 
Updates from the PA Legislature 
 
Criminal Law & Procedure 
House Bill 2143 – Continuing County Prison Board Status 
after Change in County Designation 
Presented to the Governor, Feb. 9, 2022 
https://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billInfo/billInfo.cfm?sYear=2021&sInd=0&body=H&type=B&bn=2143  
House Bill 2143 would allow “a county the ability to continue to use their current prison board and ensure 
that the transition is smooth as minimal adjustments would be needed. Therefore, the legislation will add 
2A class counties to the current procedure that are used for 3rd through 8th class counties, thus allowing 
them to continue to use their current county prison board after the transition.” 
 
Updates from the Courts 
U.S. Supreme Court 
*No new updates this month 
PA Supreme Court 
Criminal Law & Procedure 
CRIMINAL JUSTICE UPDATE 
A monthly newsletter produced by the ACBA Fellow at Gettysburg 
College 
Keep up to date with 
developments in criminal law, 
criminal procedure, and victims 
issues via this monthly 
newsletter.  
Comments or questions? 
Contact Autumn Chassie at 
chasau01@gettysburg.edu. 
 
 
 
 
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. MICHAEL FELDER 
DECIDED: February 23, 2022 
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-53-2019mo%20-%20105054806163521755.pdf?cb=1  
“When sentencing juvenile homicide offenders from this point forward, sentencing courts are required to 
consider only the relevant sentencing statutes, which will guarantee that the sentencer considers the 
juvenile’s youth and attendant characteristics as required by Miller. So long as the sentence imposed is 
discretionary and takes into account the offender’s youth, even if it amounts to a de facto life sentence, 
Miller is not violated. Because the sentencing court in the present case followed this procedure, we 
affirm.” 
Concurring Opinion: https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-53-2019co%20-%20105054806163479195.pdf?cb=1  
“I write separately to recognize that this result is limited to what the Eighth Amendment requires. Today’s 
decision does not foreclose further developments in the law as to the legality of juvenile life without 
parole sentences (or their de facto equivalent as alleged here) under the Pennsylvania Constitution nor as 
to how appellate courts will review the discretionary aspects of such sentences.” 
Dissenting Opinion: https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Supreme/out/J-53-2019do%20-%20105054806163479548.pdf?cb=1  
“I would wait for an appropriate case in which the Court might address these important and complicated 
matters, and I would dismiss the instant appeal as improvidently granted. Because the Majority presses 
on in the face of these patent deficiencies, I respectfully dissent.” 
 
PA Superior Court 
(Reporting only cases with precedential value)  
Criminal Law & Procedure 
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. AKEEM KEVIN WASHINGTON 
FILED: February 1, 2022 
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-E03004-21o%20-%20105033233161585089.pdf?cb=1    
“The Commonwealth is not precluded from introducing Mr. Jones’ prior testimony at a new trial. See 
Pa.R.E. 804(a)(4) (stating declarant is considered unavailable as witness if declarant cannot be present or 
testify at trial or hearing because of death); and (b)(1) (stating former testimony that was given as witness 
at trial, hearing or lawful deposition is not excluded by rule against hearsay if declarant is unavailable as 
witness and where testimony is now offered against party who had opportunity and similar motive to 
develop it by direct, cross, or redirect examination). Accordingly, we reverse the order denying PCRA 
relief, vacate the judgment of sentence, and remand for a new trial. Order reversed.” 
 
Dissenting Opinion: https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-E03004-21do%20-%20105033233161585426.pdf?cb=1   
“I must respectfully dissent from the learned Majority’s decision in this case because, I believe, the 
Majority improperly relieved Appellant of his burden to produce evidence that his aggravated assault 
conviction was not admissible as impeachment evidence.” 
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. RICHARD KRISTA 
FILED: February 4, 2022 
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-A29018-21o%20-%20105037267161957863.pdf?cb=1  
“Therefore, because we are convinced neither (1) that trial court’s finding that the prosecutor’s improper 
statement was the result of frustrated inadvertence rather than recklessness is insufficiently supported 
by the certified record, nor (2) that the impropriety here rose to the level of overreaching necessary to 
trigger double jeopardy immunity, we affirm the trial court’s order denying Appellant’s second motion to 
bar retrial. Order affirmed.” 
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. ANN LUTZ 
FILED:  February 14, 2022 
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-S31045-21o%20-%20105046150162777165.pdf?cb=1  
“In sum, our review of the record in conjunction with the foregoing case law supports Lutz’s claim that 
the evidence of the marijuana contained in the eyeglass case under the driver’s seat found during the 
search incident to her arrest should have been suppressed. However, the evidence of the metal pipe was 
properly admitted by the trial court under the plain view doctrine. Accordingly, we affirm the suppression 
order in part as to the metal pipe but reverse its denial of Lutz’s motion to suppress the marijuana in the 
eyeglass case and remand for further proceedings consistent with this Opinion. 
Suppression Order affirmed in part and reversed in part. Judgment of sentence vacated. Case remanded 
for further proceedings. Jurisdiction relinquished.”  
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA V. RAHSAAN O. MAY 
FILED: February 15, 2022 
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-A26004-21o%20-%20105047730162881252.pdf?cb=1  
“Herein, the legislature found that driving while impaired by a Schedule I substance merited a minimum 
mandatory fine of $1,000. As that punishment is proportional to the crime, we hold that § 3804 does not 
violate the excessive fines clause of the Pennsylvania or United States Constitution. Judgment of sentence 
affirmed.” 
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. BENOY THOMAS 
FILED: February 15, 2022 
 
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-S04020-22o%20-%20105047913162902673.pdf?cb=1  
“As the record supports the PCRA court’s factual findings, and its conclusions are consistent with the law, 
we discern no error in the PCRA court’s determination that Appellant was not entitled to postconviction 
relief. Order affirmed.” 
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. SHERRY HOLT 
FILED: February 17, 2022 
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-A25029-21o%20-%20105051357163177251.pdf?cb=1  
“Appellant argues the evidence was insufficient because her statements did not impair the efforts by law 
enforcement to apprehend Mr. Holt, the statute requires only the intent to hinder apprehension, not 
proof of actual hindrance. Here, Appellant’s intent to delay or interfere with her son’s apprehension can 
be readily inferred from her conduct. Viewed in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as 
verdict- winner, the evidence was sufficient to sustain Appellant’s conviction for hindering apprehension 
or prosecution under the current version of the statute. Accordingly, we affirm.” 
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. JOHN R. AUMICK 
FILED: February 23, 2022 
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-A24016-21o%20-%20105056490163601054.pdf?cb=1  
“For these reasons, because. Dr. Muscari’s opinion and her report were based on unproven allegations, 
the trial court should have excluded that evidence and her opinion based on that evidence. Furthermore, 
because she was its only witness, without any proof to support the underlying claims that formed the 
basis of Dr. Muscari’s opinion, the Commonwealth failed to present clear and convincing evidence that 
Aumich qualifies as an SVP. Accordingly, because the Commonwealth has not made out its statutory 
evidentiary burden, the trial court’s SVP designation is reversed.” 
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. BRIAN S. WOOLSTRUM 
FILED: February 25, 2022 
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-S38023-21o%20-%20105058991163826977.pdf?cb=1   
“Appellant’s PCRA petition was untimely filed, and he failed to plead the applicability of any of the PCRA’s 
timeliness exceptions. In accordance with the May 6, 2020 Order, the PCRA court properly exercised its 
discretion in concluding that Appellant’s ‘late filing was not the result of or affected by the judicial 
emergency.’ Thus, the PCRA court properly concluded it did not have jurisdiction to address the merits of 
Appellant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims. This Court, likewise, lacks jurisdiction. Order 
affirmed.” 
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. DEREK MURCHISON 
FILED: February 28, 2022 
 
https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-S09005-21o%20-%20105060854163997330.pdf?cb=1  
“We conclude the PCRA court properly found the “new” DNA evidence was merely cumulative and not 
likely to compel a different result. Accordingly, Appellant has not met the high burden of demonstrating 
that he is entitled to PCRA relief.” 
Dissenting Opinion: https://www.pacourts.us/assets/opinions/Superior/out/J-S09005-21do%20-%20105060854163997435.pdf?cb=1  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Contact Information 
      
Telephone: (570) 259-8076 
Email: chasau01@gettysburg.edu 
 


Criminal Justice Update - February 2022

The Criminal Justice Update is a monthly newsletter created by the Adams County Bar Foundation Fellow providing updates in criminal justice policy coming from Pennsylvania\u27s courts and legislature as well as the US Supreme Court.
Contents:   Updates from PA Governor\u27s Office: No new updates this month Updates from the PA Legislature Updates from the Courts  U.S. Supreme Court PA Supreme Court PA Superior Cour

Criminal Justice Update - April 2022

Method, Alicia

The Mercury 
The Student Art & 
Literary Magazine 
of Gettysburg 
College 
Volume 2022 Article 4 
May 2022 
Plastic Horses, Wooden Trains 
Alicia Method 
Gettysburg College 
Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury 
 Part of the Art and Design Commons, and the Creative Writing Commons 
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Method, Alicia () "Plastic Horses, Wooden Trains," The Mercury: Year 2022, Article 4. 
Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/4 
This open access fiction is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted 
for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact 
cupola@gettysburg.edu. 
Plastic Horses, Wooden Trains 
Author Bio 
Alicia Method is a junior English and Music major with a writing concentration. She is a staff writer for the 
Gettysburgian, assistant editor of Humanities for the Headquarters, and a tutor at the Writing Center. 
This fiction is available in The Mercury: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/4 
8
Plastic Horses, Wooden Trains
Alicia Method
 I thought I would give him a tortoiseshell watch because when 
we were kids, he loved this cartoon about a turtle, and he was obses-
sively early to each and every event he ever had to attend in his
young life. He took it from my sweaty hands with a little bit of con-
sternation between his eyebrows and confusion next to his lips, so I 
explained the gift and he grimaced. I knew he didn’t like it. I didn’t 
mind because it is the thought that counts and there is always next 
year.
 His dark, almost black hair was scratching at his eyeballs in 
little straight clumps as he put the watch back in its box and turned 
around. His back was slightly hunched, as if his feet were tired and he
could no longer muster the energy to keep his spine erect.
 “Do you want a hug?” I asked, not knowing how he would 
answer but intending to give one despite any response to the contrary. 
He turned around and grimaced again. I flew at him and gripped his
body in an embrace that should have, would have, shattered his ribs if 
he hadn’t gotten so damn big this past fall. I stood straight and began 
feeling his muscles. He laughed a little and started to move back. I
pressed my hands on the stomach that had begun inching forward 
over his pants.
 “You’re nice,” I said and picked up my green purse, ready to go.
 “You’re nice,” he said and opened the door.
 I walked through it.
 Later in the evening we went to a show. It was a movie about 
stars. Well, there was a car chase and a romantic scene, and someone 
shot a gun a few times, but I still thought it was a movie about stars
because I saw them so often in the background of the scenes. Dan 
disagreed. He said it was a movie about violence and love and how 
they mix so often, too often. I shook my head, understanding what he 
was saying and not, and ate my popcorn. It was buttery and made my 
tongue soft. When we left, I fluttered my fingertips by his because I 
felt it was the right thing to do. He shoved his fingertips in his 
pockets.
The Mercury
9
 His pockets were made of this brown corduroy material. When 
we got to the car, he put the corduroy jacket around my shoulders be-
cause it was chilly. I kept remembering his red raincoat that washed up 
on the pond by Grammy’s house after Storm Alfred. Storm Alfred was 
a gigantic rainstorm, big enough for a name, but not big enough to be 
called a hurricane or tropical storm. Just like we were big enough to play 
outside by ourselves but not big enough to be in my pink bedroom with 
the door closed.
 The day that Storm Alfred hit, Dan had taken off his red rain 
jacket to prove he could walk through the forest without getting 
scratched. But while he was out walking through the forest not getting 
scratched, the rain came. I remembered standing by the pond, staring 
at his jacket, getting wetter and wetter and wishing, for some reason, 
that I had remembered to wear thicker socks that day. Eventually, I got 
scared and ran inside and shivered and dripped all over the couch while 
Grammy judged me over her yellow spectacles—but he wasn’t scared. 
He showed up ten minutes later on the porch completely soaked, buck 
naked without a scratch on him, smiling.
 In the car, he put on soft jazz and drove slowly. I knew he had 
changed because he used to drive fast to Death Cab for Cutie. Mom 
always said that people change when they go to college. Her sister had
gone to school loving Jesus and come out not having gone to church in 
two years. I didn’t care so much whether or not Dan still loved Jesus, 
just so long as he still loved me.
 “Wanna play something different?” I asked, holding on to the 
brown corduroy pockets.
 “Put on whatever you like,” he said, gesturing to the radio. I 
reached my hand to the knob and closed my eyes. I heard Dan chuckle, 
a deep babyish chuckle that sounded like beer and roasted nuts.
 “Girl, you still doing that? You gotta get yourself an aux cord.”
 “I like the surprise!” I insisted and started fiddling.
 “You like not having to make decisions,” he countered in that 
same beer-tinged voice.
 The Paris Sisters’ dreamy voices suddenly filled up the car like a 
fog. Station 106.3: top hits from the 60s and 70s.
And when I’m away from you
I love how you miss me
I love the way you always treat me tenderly
But darling, most of all
I love how you love me
 
 Every time Sherrel or Priscilla’s voice came on with “I love,” I saw 
Dan’s shoulders tense up a mile high. I thought maybe he liked it. My 
house was ten minutes away from the theater. We got back in eight. I was 
through the front door holding an awkward goodbye before the credits 
were over.
...
 I thought I would give her a wallet with pink roses because she 
loved collecting coins when we were little, and we used to play in her 
aunt’s rose garden after a good rain. I knew she would love it, even be-
fore she opened her eyes, hidden playfully behind bangs with her hands 
outstretched to receive the gift. I took those ten seconds to devour that 
memory of her shoulders and knees, hunched on her bedroom floor at 
twelve years old, laughing through the pain of her first period. It had been 
a year since I had seen her last, another school year flown by, but when she 
opened her berry brown eyes, I knew she was just the same.
 “It’s perfect!” Kayleigh said, cradling the soft leather.
 “You’re perfect,” I said, cradling my cotton hands in each other.
 She laughed awkwardly, shaking her eyes behind the wisps of her 
hair, and I opened my mouth as if I had anything good to say. I didn’t so I 
sort of snorted and rocked on my heels. But then rocking on my heels led 
to my heels breaking the frame of her favorite picture, a photograph of her 
new boyfriend and her, and to too many apologies from me.
 “I’m sorry Kayleigh,” I said. “How about we go on a walk?”
 She told me the only reason I didn’t ask if she wanted to go on a 
walk was because I was a man, and I told her the only reason she wouldn’t 
was because she was afraid her new boyfriend would see us. After that she 
opened the door like she wanted me to leave.
 I walked through it.
 Later in the evening we went to a puppet show. I’ve always thought 
puppets were evil because Mom said ventriloquism was a sin and they 
creeped me out, but Kayleigh liked them, so we went. While the puppets 
were talking, I mocked them, making obscene faces. Kayleigh chuckled 
10
The Mercury
and hit my shoulder. I whisper-asked why she liked this sort of thing and 
she told me she liked seeing reflections of a distorted reality. I thought that 
was a tad dramatic for a puppet show so I shifted sullenly in my seat. 
 Afterward, I asked if she wanted to go out for coffee. She asked if 
Mark, the new boyfriend, could join us. I told her yes, of course he could. I 
didn’t like Mark, and not because I am protective of Kayleigh (I’ve known 
her since she was three), or because I am supposedly jealous of other peo-
ple who can make her laugh for more than five minutes (I held the record 
at 4 and 32 seconds). I didn’t like him because he was smelly and too tall. 
 The whole time they were sitting next to each other, drinking bad 
coffee, I kept staring at Kayleigh’s earrings. She was wearing these stupid 
yellow duck earrings that popped out from her face like lasers. I remem-
bered the first time she got her ears pierced; we were ten. Ten-year-old’s 
nowadays aren’t supposed to go off by themselves for long periods of time, 
but our parents were old-fashioned. We would careen on our bikes to the 
ice scream store to the back of the library to the drug store parking lot, 
racing and laughing and trying to best each other in one thing or the other. 
We used to get naked together too. Not in a sexual way, in an utterly naïve, 
let’s run around, garden of Eden sort of way. That all changed by the time 
we were nine or ten. 
 Kayleigh decided she needed her ears pierced the first time we 
entered Grace’s Knick-Knacks, a store that sold plants and jewelry and 
candles. Grace’s Knick-Knacks went out of business in under a year. Grace 
had earrings everywhere, up and down her ears, inside her nose, her 
bellybutton—there were even rumors she had jewelry where no one could 
see. The first time we stepped in, Kayleigh saw Grace and demanded an ear 
piercing. I don’t know if Grace was certified or trained, but she ripped out 
a kit and did it on the spot. Kayleigh’s ears bled and swelled intermittently 
for a week, but she had her earrings. Kayleigh always liked copying people, 
taking herself from the characters who popped up on our horizons. 
 
 In the car on the way home, we dropped Mark off at his house. He 
asked Kayleigh if she wanted to go in with him. She said no. After he left, I 
asked if they had had a fight. She looked at me like I was crazy. 
 “What?” I asked.
 “Dan were you just at the coffee shop, or was that some kind of 
astral projection?”
 “I wasn’t really listening, sorry. You guys seemed happy together.” 
 “He told me I was the worst kisser he’s ever been with. And that he’s 
thinking about moving to California.”
11
12
 I was silent for a moment, breathing through her anger. 
 “Well, I guess that’s not gonna last.”
 “No shit.”
 I knew she had changed when she cursed because she never used 
to swear. Instead, she would make up silly nonsense words and use them as 
placeholders for the things she didn’t dare voice. 
What the foojiggle
Holy Shmarsh
I thought maybe, since we got older, we’d both really been only using silly 
placeholders instead of saying the things we thought. 
 “At least he was honest,” I said. 
 When we reached our block, we sat on the curb by her driveway 
instead of going inside. There was a light on in the house across the street. 
The lit-up room had pink wallpaper and papier- mâché butterflies stuck to 
the ceiling and door. There were two kids playing on the bed by the win-
dow, a boy and a girl. The girl was lifting purple, plastic horses in a can-
tering motion, the boy was laughing. Finally, he picked up a wooden train 
and slammed the heavy machinery against the horse. The girl, agitated, 
punched him on the shoulder. Immediately, their childish yells were ring-
ing muted in our ears. 
 Kayleigh thought it was endearing. I thought it was ridiculous.
 “I remember when we used to roughhouse like that,” I said, my 
breath pouring into the wind like cigarette smoke.
 “I remember when we used to talk,” she retorted, “Really talk.” 
 “I sort of preferred it when there were plastic horses and trains. I 
knew what to say to you better.” 
 Kayleigh was silent. I knew she was thinking about bikes and ear-
rings and rainstorms and the days when we didn’t care so much about what 
to say as long as we said it. 
 “Next year, I’ll bring you a train,” she said.


Plastic Horses, Wooden Trains

Oglesby, Katelyn

The Mercury 
The Student Art & 
Literary Magazine 
of Gettysburg 
College 
Volume 2022 Article 5 
May 2022 
To San Diego, California, From Statesville, North Carolina 
Katelyn Oglesby 
Gettysburg College 
Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury 
 Part of the Art and Design Commons, and the Creative Writing Commons 
Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. 
Recommended Citation 
Oglesby, Katelyn () "To San Diego, California, From Statesville, North Carolina," The Mercury: Year 2022, 
Article 5. 
Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/5 
This open access poetry is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted 
for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact 
cupola@gettysburg.edu. 
To San Diego, California, From Statesville, North Carolina 
Author Bio 
Katie Oglesby '23 is an English with a Writing Concentration and Political Science double major hailing 
from San Diego, CA but living in rural North Carolina. This year she has served as Magazine Editor for The 
Gettysburgian, New Member Chair for Alpha Phi Omega, and the Humanities Field Aide for the Gettysburg 
College Headquarters academic journal. She can usually be found perusing the books in the Musselman 
Library browsing room. One day, she hopes to be a fiction author. 
This poetry is available in The Mercury: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/5 
The Mercury
13
To San Diego, California,
From Statesville, North Carolina
Katelyn Oglesby
I haven’t seen it in six months—
the place that gave me my name,
that taught me honesty,
integrity, gave me my heart,
and gave me my walls.
I haven’t driven up that long stretch of road,
where I would pump up the gas a little
over the speed limit as I drove home,
haven’t driven up the hill and turned
right at the third street up to the dead-end
lane my house made its home on.
I haven’t seen those trees that
called me their own, the place under
rocks in the yard where I buried dead fish,
where I dug up roots and planted
my own, haven’t seen the birds
we used to name walk along
our ramshackle wall from the star pines
to the olive tree.
I haven’t seen the places on the walls
that my four-year-old hand used
to tear up, haven’t seen the pink paint
of my bathroom or the plastic stars
on my bedroom ceiling that used to
glow in the dark or the photos in the
hallway to the garage, that hall of memories,
the shrine to my childhood.
I haven’t peered through the half-circle
window to our cars in the driveway below
and haven’t seen my neighbors smile and wave
14
and bid us good day on the streets
that I used to play hopscotch on,
and ride my bike down, and run along
to get the mail because I was barefoot
and didn’t want to land on something sharp.
I haven’t seen it in six months,
the place that made me a person,
the place that took my heart and
spit me out and told me I was
something then nothing then something again.
I don’t miss the way the trees would
shake in the wind and the embers
would light up the ground and
our photographs would tilt
and the floors would move and we’d
all stand in the doorway waiting for it
to pass, but I miss
the community of those moments,
phone calls tethering us together,
are you okay? was that an earthquake?
are you evacuating for the fire?
It was those moments,
fear gripping me and holding me
captive, that I’d feel alive.
I haven’t seen it in six months,
the city that gave me life,
the house that gave me home.
For all the resentment it gave me,
it gave me love too.
It gave me a best friend turned sister,
heartbreak turned lesson,
truth and meaning
and tears and scraped knees
and funerals and warmth,
so much warmth that it washes away
all the things that ever made me want
to leave.
The Mercury
15
I celebrate Christmas in my new house
and think how the light switches click
differently than the ones I used to know
and the stairs are steeper and I’ve never
had a bedroom on the first floor,
never had to drive twenty minutes
to get out of a rural neighborhood
and to a store,
never had trees this tall looming
over the backyard and sometimes
I miss our old pomegranate tree because that one
didn’t dwarf me so much,
didn’t make me feel so impossibly small.
This place may be my house, but
it doesn’t feel like home yet.
It hasn’t chewed me up and spit me
out so it doesn’t feel like it’s made
of my bones yet.
I think I left a piece of myself on Eclipse Road,
think I must have buried my heart
in the ground under
the floorboards and
in the walls.
Now, I’m fragmented,
a third of me left in San Diego,
a third in Gettysburg,
walking from Apple to the library
to Glat to the fourth floor of Breidenbaugh,
and the final third of me in small-town
North Carolina, trying to figure out
how to tie all my strings together
until I no longer feel so divided,
until a house in a place I didn’t know existed last April
can feel a little more like a home.
But this Christmas, we sit on the couch we had
at our old house, just the three of us,
my mom, my dad, and me,
16
and I think that maybe it isn’t the places
we live in that make a home,
that I can still have all those pieces
of me spread apart and be at home in
each of them uniquely,
that this new place can be home
even if it didn’t build me.


To San Diego, California, From Statesville, North Carolina

Kenny, Sophia A

The Mercury 
The Student Art & 
Literary Magazine 
of Gettysburg 
College 
Volume 2022 Article 9 
May 2022 
Changing Seasons 
Sophia A. Kenny 
Gettysburg College 
Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury 
 Part of the Art and Design Commons, and the Creative Writing Commons 
Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. 
Recommended Citation 
Kenny, Sophia A. () "Changing Seasons," The Mercury: Year 2022, Article 9. 
Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/9 
This open access poetry is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted 
for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact 
cupola@gettysburg.edu. 
Changing Seasons 
Author Bio 
Sophia Kenny is a sophomore at Gettysburg College, majoring in English and Business. She is also 
involved in Gettysburg's chapters of Her Campus and Alpha Omicron Pi. 
This poetry is available in The Mercury: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/9 
22
Changing Seasons
Sophia A. Kenny
Every morning I march by the tree.
I beam, its beauty is a dream.
It captivates me pre-class.
Looks as if it’s on fire,
the flames falling
to cool grass.
She withered away.
I didn’t cry; it’s only nature.
Fall is completed,
leaves must drop,
like the fallen soldiers beneath it.
She’s more barren than before—
I can’t look anymore.
Her skinny arms,
waving weightless in the wind,
reach out to me.
Her small smile,
chapped lips cracking like tree bark
scratch and kiss my head.
Her own fiery spirit has shriveled
like the flaming leaves at her feet.
There is no disease,
just the course of nature
I almost didn’t realize
the rapid change.
The Mercury
23
My grandma,
disintegrating so briskly.
Cheeks caving like leaves when crunched.
Her fall risk high when her body is rotten.
Winter knocks on our front entryway.
I won’t open it—
but there’s a
draft below the door.


Changing Seasons

Sullivan, Deirdre M.

The Mercury 
The Student Art & 
Literary Magazine 
of Gettysburg 
College 
Volume 2022 Article 26 
May 2022 
A Tribute to Woody Guthrie 
Deirdre M. Sullivan 
Gettysburg College 
Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury 
 Part of the Art and Design Commons, and the Creative Writing Commons 
Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. 
Recommended Citation 
Sullivan, Deirdre M. () "A Tribute to Woody Guthrie," The Mercury: Year 2022, Article 26. 
Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/26 
This open access artwork is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted 
for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact 
cupola@gettysburg.edu. 
A Tribute to Woody Guthrie 
Author Bio 
Deirdre Sullivan is an Art History and Religious Studies double major with a minor in Women, Gender, and 
Sexuality Studies. They work at Musselman Library as a Peer Research Mentor and at the Gender and 
Sexuality Resource Center as an Office Assistant. They are also a member of Alpha Phi Omega. 
This artwork is available in The Mercury: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/26 
The Mercury
A Tribute to Woody Guthrie
Deirdre M. Sullivan
59


A Tribute to Woody Guthrie

Mangione, Katherine

The Mercury 
The Student Art & 
Literary Magazine 
of Gettysburg 
College 
Volume 2022 Article 33 
May 2022 
Wandering in Gold 
Katherine Mangione 
Gettysburg College 
Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury 
 Part of the Art and Design Commons, and the Creative Writing Commons 
Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. 
Recommended Citation 
Mangione, Katherine () "Wandering in Gold," The Mercury: Year 2022, Article 33. 
Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/33 
This open access artwork is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted 
for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact 
cupola@gettysburg.edu. 
Wandering in Gold 
Author Bio 
Katherine Mangione studies history and religious studies at Gettysburg College. She is a captain of the 
Women's Track & Field Team at Gettysburg, and she loves taking photographs and writing poetry in her 
free time. 
This artwork is available in The Mercury: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/33 
66
Wandering in Gold
Katherine Mangione


Wandering in Gold

The Mercury 
The Student Art & 
Literary Magazine 
of Gettysburg 
College 
Volume 2022 Article 34 
May 2022 
Field of Dreams 
Katherine Mangione 
Gettysburg College 
Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury 
 Part of the Art and Design Commons, and the Creative Writing Commons 
Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. 
Recommended Citation 
Mangione, Katherine () "Field of Dreams," The Mercury: Year 2022, Article 34. 
Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/34 
This open access artwork is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted 
for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact 
cupola@gettysburg.edu. 
Field of Dreams 
Author Bio 
Katherine Mangione studies history and religious studies at Gettysburg College. She is a captain of the 
Women's Track & Field Team at Gettysburg, and she loves taking photographs and writing poetry in her 
free time. 
This artwork is available in The Mercury: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/34 
The Mercury
Field of Dreams
Katherine Mangione
67


Field of Dreams

Sidle, Madison R.

The Mercury 
The Student Art & 
Literary Magazine 
of Gettysburg 
College 
Volume 2022 Article 47 
May 2022 
Crossfire 
Madison R. Sidle 
Gettysburg College 
Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury 
 Part of the Art and Design Commons, and the Creative Writing Commons 
Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. 
Recommended Citation 
Sidle, Madison R. () "Crossfire," The Mercury: Year 2022, Article 47. 
Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/47 
This open access poetry is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted 
for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact 
cupola@gettysburg.edu. 
Crossfire 
Author Bio 
Madison Sidle is a senior at Gettysburg College. Her major is Political Science and her minor is Writing. 
She is from Owings Mills, Maryland and has wanted to be a published author since she was twelve. 
This poetry is available in The Mercury: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/mercury/vol2022/iss1/47 
98
Crossfire
Madison R. Sidle
I have done nothing wrong.
The thought blazes through my mind like lemon droplets on my 
tongue
and I wince knowing I will never get the apology I deserve.
She justifies her friendly fire with the same excuse
that I was holding the crimson cloth and she couldn’t help but charge.
My body rolls to a stop in the cloud of sand
and I push myself up to get knocked down again,
maybe one day I will not bother to command my composure
and my legs will break so I can never stand.
She looks down at me and her acid words burn my thin skin,
creating pale splotches on my face that I will never let her see.
Pride and anxiety could be the title of my autobiography.
Would regret plague her heart if she read the words?
Maybe my mask of indifference is made of coal,
so I am the only one to blame for my burns.
But if I lower my shield of nervous laughter,
will the pillars of my sanity collapse into dust
and crush the spirit from my body?
Could I be myself if I revealed all I am to humanity
and left no secrets between my neurons and nerves?
I refuse to change.
Not for her or anyone else, because in my stone heart
I enjoy the person I have become.
And if a statue never erodes
wouldn’t we call that a miracle?
