To 'saint' Mary Anne, Our Daughter Poem by Lynn W. Petty

How do you quantify one's depth of soul?
How does one measure one's goodness of heart?
How much self-sacrificing does one do,
For the benefit of others,
Before One's own diminished health
Becomes a threat?
The measurement is not by feet and yards,
And, not by height and breadth but, by one's love;
That intangible something that lifts one
Above all other souls, to stand amongst
The stars, within the bosom of the deep,
Shining like a lamp in the dark of space.

And we, standing in the glow of her light,
Are blessed.