riding a patchwork highway
I came to a tumbledown town
where no one lived
I stopped by the pumps
of an antique gas station
with no doors and no windows left
drank from my canteen
wondered why there’d ever been a town there
no river
no waterhole
no mines in evidence
just rattletrap houses
the wind hadn’t blown away
and this gas station
crumbling too
after I finished drinking
always save some water in your canteen
you may need it later
I recognized a steeple
and idly wandered to it
yes, the remains of a chapel
three pews
a pulpit
a collection plate
I guessed the wind had had its way
with any bible or hymnals left behind
in any case I found none
behind the church a cemetery
held two dozen graves
each marked by a tombstone
leaning its own direction
the wind had blasted names and dates away
just like it had driven any mourners
I tried not to see any foretelling in it
just a curiosity
an abandoned town
with its forgotten chapel
and cemetery with blank tombstones
but I rode away with a shiver
looking for people alive enough to talk
for a beer and dancing girls
and a smile that had never seen that town
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