Tombstones

These risings,

Solemn erections,

The Gold Road

twisting in sand and rock,

rock and

sand,

Those lost foundations,

Those crumblings,

Such humble dwellings,

Fallen past

Are devoured in time.

I walked the hills to see

their cemetery.

I did not find,

Though saw

The tombstones all around,

The dead dreams,

Lost prayers upon desert winds,

The Gold Road,

now wound down,

All wordless reminders,

Not warnings

or promises,

But silent sentinels,

testimonials to change,

Like each old man

and child alike,

And broken heart and wedding vow,

All moving tombstones

Whose solid shadows fall

On fleeting sands of time,

and timeless progression.

The Old Gold road

Is paved today,

And all that was

Is now in ruin.

c. Jan 1992