All photographs D.R. Wagner
IN THE LABYRINTH
I have told the children that it was still raining.
I asked them to come to the window and see how this is.
Look at these cards I have been given. They are neither
Playing cards or Tarot. The may be a marked deck.
This one has an image of a coyote on it.
While we were speaking a bird with a wren-like sound
Landed on my head and tapped my head lightly.
It came as a surprise. I suspected this for the bird as well.
It wasn’t like it never happened that that I saw you
Out on the trail, just at the ridge top. You had binoculars.
You were looking toward the fire. It was still a mile or so away.
I knew I could never reach you. I asked the angels for help.
They told me to keep walking. I wavered in my belief.
Later, I set up a creche decorated with bright candles.
Something was moving in the corner of my eye.
I could not longer understand why I had to be on this
Road all alone. It was the wrong season. The weather made
Travel nearly impassable. The rain streaked the windows.
I continued to stand with the children and watch it.
