You gathered to you those who no one else would know,
Because you felt compelled.
Because you know what it is to be left out, pushed out,
Told you don't belong by those who are just like you.

God damn you took up space! Fat, crippled dyke you'd say, and we gasp --
She said it out loud. You always said it out loud.
Your ideas, your mind never could fit any over-sized super-charged scooter.
No blankets on a bariatric bed could ever cover the expanse of your heart.

Your soul was too damn big, too open wide, to fit
Any tight philosophy, any constricting policy,
Any pumpkin-like van, any carpet-less apartment,
    Any wild and person-less national park.

My sister,
    Only heaven is sized for such a soul.

Some of MaryFrances' writings for Ragged Edge:

• The Belchertown Crip Railroad
• No Big Brother Here (on the Freedom Clearinghouse website)
• Homesick Song
• The New Refugees
• The Terri Schindler Schiavo Crippled Kickball Team
• Rebeca, Me and the Freak Show