Marlene Geary

East Hampton, Connecticut

I sing because my heart demands it and would break without it... Have you ever driven up into the mountains? First, there are the foothills, with the grand snow-capped vistas rising just beyond your vision. Then, as you climb higher, you can see sunlit valleys and crevices that remain darkened even as the sun reaches its zenith. You drive on and up through the undulating pathways that the mountain offers to you until you decide to stop and take a moment to drink in the beauty all around you. Your eyes are drawn ever upward to the peaks penetrating the heavens. Then you turn around and see another part of the mountain: the grand sea of the plains beyond the foothills. You realize the mount