But when I hugged Sheraz [a young woman from Haiti] goodbye, whispering "Be safe," into her ear, she stood back and looked straight into my eyes with her dark beauty. "Safe," she repeated. "It used to be my prayer. But now I recognize that we may not be safe. And if this is our portion, so be it." No sentimentality. No smallness. Only clarity. Power. Freedom. A beauty beyond the usual definition. The Self we most deeply are.
— Paula D'Arcy, A New Set of Eyes