here in the art room
of Hennepin United Methodist Church
Minneapolis, Minnesota
where silent men and women travel
to the center of the labyrinth
in their stockinged feet
as women and men have done
for eight hundred years
(here where Jesus lies
in his mother’s arms
under a brightly painted halo)
the sacrifice is not
in the journey
in its twists and turns
the sacrifice
is always
here in Santa Fe
the New Mexico village
where toughened peasants carry
heavy crosses and heavy beliefs
side by side side by side
on crutches and wheelchairs
in cracked leather boots
twenty seven miles to the desert
shrine of Chimayo
just as they have for two hundred years
(here where Jesus bleeds
bright red paint
from fly-infested wounds)
the sacrifice is not
in the journey
in its twists and turns
and desert heat
the sacrifice
is always
arriving.
—
Marc Thompson currently resides in Minneapolis, MN where he is a stay-at-home dad. He thinks it’s the best job in the world. Marc received his MFA from Hamline University, and his poems have appeared in journals and anthologies in the US, England, Australia, Canada, Japan, and cyberspace.
200 New Mexico Poems 