Mother of fictions
and of irony
help us to laugh.
Mother of science
and the critical method,
keep us humble.
Muse of listeners,
hope of interpreters
inspire us to act.
Bless our metaphors,
that we might eat them.
Help us to know, Eve,
the one thing we must do.
Come with us, muse of exile,
mother of the road.
- by Kathleen Norris