On grand tour through alreadly awakened memoryland, first several weeks in California, then here to New Mexico. Viewing fractured land up-close, everyone talking about the difficulties presented with economic recession, jobs, unemployment, and the possibilities of resurgence with Obama at the helm.

The land is troubled and even amid all the ageing and the moving on with retirement and other forms of occasion, there is the sense that we have been here trying to make sense of it all.

WE KEEP TRYING

Nothing saw us that clearly
not even your camera's eye.
The dance card kept filling
and I never understood the tunes.
But you were a merciful lover,
and every tear earned a remorse.
Maybe someday we'll learn reconciliation
as if it were yesterday's chat
or a blooming answer to a riddle
that stood close to our hearts