Trip To Memory

long ago
down a dirt road
in a New Mexico ghost town
falling down church
falling down life

from self-inflicted wounds
so much collateral damage
a child’s hot tears
a wife’s withering dreams
a husband’s blind regret

a heart was carved
in the tilting wooden cross
broken heart?
sacred heart?
hard to tell

now I see it again
that old adobe church
the tilting, splintered cross
mirage? dream?
hard to tell

the weathered heart remains
and from this distance casts light
where other hearts have healed
on this long and winding journey
this redeeming trip
to Memory.

Words and Image by James Mangum and C. Robin Janning