with thelonius pulling the wagon

amos returns with samuel

the arduous journey from the mountain

to denver   and back   near two hundred miles

over   samuel is withdrawn   the church

his church   neglected for two years   incomplete

unroofed   open framework weathered   

boards warping   grayed by two colorado winters

~

prison   there is little to say   two words

should suffice   negro   injustice

~

he begins where he left it   mostly alone

when he needs help he asks

there are others   each with a task   

it is a community   a growing community

~

zoey   will two words suffice   two years

without her man   two years

in her caravan alone   two years without

samuel's love   

~

amos is exhausted   hattie nurses him

as best she can   age has played its relentlessness

upon the both of them   it tells

the cold hurts more   works its way into their bones

no number of quilts   no proximity of body

can match the insidiousness of age

~

which means nothing   amos and thelonius

make their way up the mountain

as they have done since the war ended   since

they and the others   samuel and zoey

and the little ones   moved west   amos relying 

upon thelonius' steady gait  

make their way up the mountain to tend the flock

while samuel builds the church

in which he will pastor   tending the flock

if the spirit is still within

~

as zoey tends to samuel   as hattie tends to amos

that is way of love