Mountain Trail.

MOUNTAIN TRAIL

   The shop was a hole in the wall between
   An insurance agency with the lights
   Out and a diner with two customers.
   It sold small items from the Orient
   Made of bamboo sticks and paper, with bits
   Of metal like coins, scrolls, and scented
   Candles. Next to the door, lighted from
   Above, was an image of the Virgin Mary,
   On rice paper, nearly the size of a
   Movie poster. In a way, how she got there
   Is as easy to understand as the
   Placement of two thumb tacks. Yet the route
   May have been a missionary's down some
   Misty mountain trail a generation ago,
   Or via some obscure priest on a cable
   Channel in the predawn hours and quite
   Recently, or even directly, in a way
   Not apparent, from the church nearby,
   High and quiet, where words and worship
   Are hushed, with no window over
   The unsullied world.

--WILLIAM W. RUNYEON