214 lines
4.6 KiB
TeX
214 lines
4.6 KiB
TeX
% 2026.02.16-Devotion\\
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\herosection{Devotion}{chapters/2026.02.16-Devotion/image/devotion.jpg}
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\DROPCAP{../../dropcap_c/dropO.png}ne morning they found her on the cathedral steps, \\
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wrapped in a coarse gray blanket, \\
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staring at everything \\
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as though the world had just begun.
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Anne lifted her, \\
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cradling her close.
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``Well,'' she said softly. \\
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``You've come to the right place.''
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There was no note.\\
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No name.
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Someone asked, ``What shall we call her?''
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Anne's eyes settled on the cathedral calendar \\
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pinned to the wall.\\
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This month's word was \emph{Devotion}.
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Anne gave a small nod. \\
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``That will do.''
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\medskip
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Devotion did not speak.
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They waited for words that never came.\\
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Physicians examined.\\
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Priests prayed.\\
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Devotion remained silent, \\
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taking it all in with luminous eyes.
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Other children beckoned her into their games.\\
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She followed as best she could.\\
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But by the time she understood, \\
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they had already moved on.\\
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Laughter moved too quickly.\\
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Words passed before she could catch them.
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Everyone meant well.
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But she did not belong.
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Inside the cathedral, \\
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time moved differently.
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Stone waited.\\
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Light returned to the same places \\
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day after day.\\
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The pillars did not interrupt.\\
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The floor did not hurry.
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She began to walk the nave \\
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the way others learn conversation.
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She traced the worn edges of columns.\\
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She pressed her palm against the limestone, \\
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cool from the night.\\
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She learned which stained-glass windows \\
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flared cold at winter dawn, \\
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and which ones bloomed softly \\
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when the days lengthened again.\\
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The building did not require speech.\\
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It received her whole in welcoming silence.
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Anne watched.
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\medskip
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On Devotion's twelfth birthday, \\
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Anne rose before dawn as usual.
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She found Devotion already in the nave, \\
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the early light still gray along the pillars.
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``You're twelve today,'' Anne said.
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Devotion nodded.
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``That's no small thing.''
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From her apron pocket, \\
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Anne drew a small medallion on a cord.\\
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It was inexpensive, \\
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the engraving slightly uneven.\\
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The word was simple: Devotion.
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She slipped it around Devotion's neck.
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``For you,'' Anne said quietly, \\
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touching her cheek.
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Devotion closed her fingers around the disk, \\
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tracing its edge.
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Anne's eyes warmed.
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``Do everything with all your heart.''
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She let the words settle.
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``And I have another gift.''
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She placed a broom in Devotion's hands.
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``It's time.''
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Devotion closed her fingers around it.
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And began.
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\medskip
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Years folded quietly into one another.
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Priests came and went.\\
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Candles were lit and extinguished.\\
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Incense rose and thinned in the high air.\\
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Music filled the nave on feast days, \\
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and fell quiet in the ribs of the vault.
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And Devotion learned the cathedral \\
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as one learns a face.
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Dust gathered differently \\
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beneath the transept than near the altar.\\
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The echo shifted \\
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when the pews were full.\\
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In autumn, \\
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light entered low and amber; \\
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in spring, \\
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it climbed pale and high along the pillars.
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Sometimes she paused \\
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when a beam of sunlight caught the rising dust.\\
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The motes turned slowly in the air, \\
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suspended in depths she could not measure.
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She could not name what she felt.\\
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It was simply what happened \\
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when she gave herself completely to what was before her.
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When Anne died, \\
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Devotion stood near the back \\
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while prayers were spoken and chants were sung.\\
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She watched the light move across the coffin \\
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and listened as the final echo dissolved.
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Then she took up her broom.
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\medskip
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The town was growing.
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It needed stone.
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The incense and music \\
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still rose through the nave, \\
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but fewer people listened.\\
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The pews held more emptiness than people, \\
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even on feast days.\\
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New walls rose along the square.
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There were meetings.\\
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Ledgers.\\
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Decisions.
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The bell was lowered first.\\
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What once thundered above the town \\
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now lay mute on the ground.\\
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Devotion laid her hand on its cool bronze, \\
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feeling its weight.\\
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Then she turned away.
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Walls followed.\\
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Statues were removed.\\
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The roof beams were taken down.
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Wind moved freely \\
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where stained glass had once restrained it.
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Devotion adjusted.\\
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When grass crept between the stones, \\
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she swept it.\\
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When sections of the floor were lifted, \\
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she cleared what remained.
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At last, \\
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even the foundation stones were removed.
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For the first time in her life, \\
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there was nothing left to tend.
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She came at dusk.
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She stood where the altar had been and listened.
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Above her, \\
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the stars burned in their icy heat.
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She drew a long breath.
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For a moment she held the small disk at her throat — \\
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warm from her skin — \\
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and let her hand fall.
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Then she turned \\
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and walked quietly out the gate, \\
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stars gleaming in the night.
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