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44 RELICS I฀saw฀a฀bone฀in฀plastic,฀the฀card฀ sewn฀in฀a฀circle฀around฀it,฀ the฀empty-eyed฀ecstasy฀ of฀the฀veiled฀figure in฀a฀painting,฀printed฀in฀a฀factory, hand-sized.฀฀St.฀Whoever’s฀ little฀something.฀฀It฀led to฀light.฀฀And฀cost฀several฀dollars— how฀much?—in฀the฀dusty฀street, rough฀translation฀of฀so฀many฀lire. I฀suspect฀one฀chicken died฀an฀awful฀death,฀and฀gave฀up her฀tibia—do฀they฀even฀have฀them? But฀a฀first฀class฀relic is฀a฀first฀class฀relic,฀whatever฀ the฀creature,฀ie:฀฀the body฀part.฀฀(Think฀of฀St.฀Catherine’s฀ head฀in฀Sienna,฀her฀heart฀in฀Rome— or฀am฀I฀reversed฀on฀this?—that฀ache฀and฀cry฀ must฀still฀carry฀on,฀each฀to฀each,฀head฀ to฀heart,฀how฀many฀miles?฀฀We฀took฀ that฀train฀but฀did฀not฀count.) And฀second฀class฀relics?฀฀All฀things the฀saint฀touched.฀฀My฀perennial฀example:฀ the฀road-kill฀glove.฀฀Or฀mittens฀ we฀took,฀strays crusted฀on฀snow฀banks,฀stepped฀ to฀slush.฀฀Lopsided฀tiny฀reindeer฀or฀where฀ some฀cross-stitching฀mother฀ eked฀out฀stars.฀฀To฀come฀in฀cold to฀the฀line฀of฀them฀ 45 tacked฀up,฀their฀wave฀after฀wave,฀every฀ last฀nothing.฀฀To฀be฀ in฀that฀hall.฀฀Before฀that, to฀open฀a฀door. ...

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