For All the Saints
by Ramona Bouzard

         The clean, sun-bleached
             bones of my mother
           lie
             on
               the
                  floor of the woods
                     she held dear.

         The dust of her ashes
           has long since mingled
         with the musty leaves
               and the earth
           from which she came.

         She is dead. I am living.
             Together we wait.
                Longing for
       the
         promise
             of home.



             Ramona Schadeberg Bouzard

Ramona Schadeberg Bouzard is the Director of Church Relations and Associate in Campus Ministry at Wartburg College.