rain day with the dead of mertola
1.
along the white-washed cemetery wall,
tombs stacked and orderly
as televisions in an electronics store
we windowshop through padlocked glass panels
for sallow plastic roses, photos,
lace-draped caskets
2.
the archeological museum squats
over layers of ancient graves –
moors rested east/west, christians criss-crossed
we translate roman numerals from tombstones,
shoes squeak the planks that edge the maze
3.
main road dug up, workers busy on their knees
under blue canopies, purpose obscured
every time we walk this slant of town
rain charges and we step into a doorway,
watch the scramble to keep tools, papers dry
and see a skeleton waking from the dirt
3 comments:
First of all, I love how you worked in your favorite theme, sleeping/not sleeping, into the poem's marvelous final line...
I also quite like this:
"along the white-washed cemetery wall,
tombs stacked and orderly
as televisions in an electronics store"
love "christians criss-crossed"
I love the line, "windowshop through padlocked glass...", the tourist as consumer, perfect, not to mention tourist as gawker/peeping tom into others' lives!
maybe because I'm reading TSElliot these days (with my tutor), but what are you thinking about when you see all of this?
and maybe this is corny (but I am the unapologetic epitome of cheese), but does the skeleton have anything to say to you?
finally, and forgive me if this is intrusive, but the "moors rested east" sounded a bit awkward, what about "headed"? I love the combo though of moors/christians though should they be Capped because my first take, rather foolishly I know, was of moors as in Yorkshire!
thanks for this, lots of good stuff here, this is so much fun
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