the track led to outhouses
farm buildings
agricultural structures in
concrete and steel
barns
pens and silos
a corrugated shelter dripping
with rain
and silent uncomprehending
cattle
I might have left it there
but followed the track further
until I came upon earthworks
fortifications
barricades
put there to block my way
and still further I went
past the churches
and temples
and men shouting the resurrection
until I came to a tree
pale and slender
that wept from its side
and had no leaves upon it
but only thorns
that would not let me near
and I stood for a while
in contemplation
before heading back
to the farm buildings
and saw that those I had taken for cattle
were in fact people
and I joined them
and many were weeping
