There are quite a number of them in the desert out southwest of Tucson. Not long ago I found one in a shallow cave a quarter of the way up a volcano cone. Who knows why somebody built it there. The particular one in this poem was out on the Tohono O'odham Reservation, 40 miles from the town of Ajo, 100 miles from Tucson, and was quite elaborate, with the plaster Jesus situated high on an outcrop that was rather difficult to get to. There were stairs carved in the rock that led partway up, complete with a metal railing, and an inscription from 1976. Obviously a lot of effort was put into it. Fascinating.
Everyone has rituals. The Catholic Church does seem to have a bit more than their share of them. I wouldn't say they have a monopoly on strangeness, though.
True, but it's tough to find anything weirder than Santaria. Catholicism mixed with voodoo... Boy, do they have some bizzarro shrine thingys! Bet them old Jesuits didn't figure on that when they were shoving the bible down the natives throats. Unexpected consequences! I dig the poem BTW... "What the hell do they expect to find here?" What the hell indeed... ZW P.S Never apologize for your work...life's too short.
To me, this poem isn't really about religion, per se. I'm not a very religious person, but I'm quite moved by these powerful symbols that somebody went to a lot of trouble for, possibly without even understanding why. They're expressions of something, some human longing that can't even be put into any kind of rational words. Hopefully, that's what poetry does ... expresses in words what can't be expressed in words.
