{"id":1891,"date":"2020-02-15T01:32:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-15T01:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/?p=1891"},"modified":"2020-02-14T00:49:27","modified_gmt":"2020-02-14T00:49:27","slug":"cathedral-of-santa-marta-by-stephen-barile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/2020\/02\/15\/cathedral-of-santa-marta-by-stephen-barile\/","title":{"rendered":"“Cathedral of Santa Marta” by Stephen Barile"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


Santa Marta, Colombia<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the province of Magdalena, Santa Marta,
\nA port city, Colombia\u2019s oldest surviving<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City, in the last two centuries faced fires,
\nFloods, earthquakes, and calamity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repeatedly ransacked, and burned, destroyed
\nby the fury of nature, and attacks by pirates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next to the main-plaza at the civic center,
\nWhitewashed bell-tower of the Cathedral of Santa Marta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The central-square shaded by Banyon trees, no escape
\nIn afternoon heat and humidity of a weekday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A blind beggar with an empty palm stands in the shade,
\nReceiving little attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Near the chapel door, a widow with three small children
\nSells Chicklets among the coffee and candy vendors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around the hallow, inner-recesses of the Cathedral,
\nAmong the chandeliers, heavy white arches and domes,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each station of the cross, allegation to crucifixion
\nMark the narrow path from through the side-door. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below the marble floor and under a metal plaque,
\nAre the sacred remains of Sim\u00f3n Bol\u00edvar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The heart of the \u201cLiberator of Latin America.\u201d
\nA sign of respect for history he shared, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When emissaries of Venezuela came to Santa Marta
\nTo take Bol\u00edvar\u2019s remains to his native land, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Left his heart and entrails in the church,
\nSharing the rest of him with Venezuela.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If his heart were to thump from deep inside
\nThe velvet-lined box, would his heartbeat <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer every prayer from every sinner
\nIn the immaculate church against the blue sky?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Would the church bring them closer to God, or
\nWaste time in the heat, and be futile?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With nowhere left to turn, life of the city
\nUnfolds, we light candles, and pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faith becomes a vital element of existence,
The Cathedral is the only reliable witness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Stephen Barile, a Fresno, California native, was educated in the public schools, and attended Fresno City College, (AA) Fresno Pacific University, (BA), and California State University, Fresno (MFA). He is the former chairman of the William Saroyan Society, and a long-time member of the Fresno Poet’s Association. Mr. Barile taught writing at Madera Center Community College, lives and writes in Fresno. His poems have been published extensively, including The Heartland Review, Rio Grande Review, The Packinghouse Review, Undercurrents, The Broad River Review, The San Joaquin Review, Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal, Beginnings, Pharos, and Flies, Cockroaches, and Poets. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Santa Marta, Colombia In the province of Magdalena, Santa Marta, A port city, Colombia\u2019s oldest surviving City, in the last two centuries faced fires, Floods, earthquakes, and calamity. Repeatedly ransacked, and burned, destroyed by the fury of nature, and attacks by pirates. Next to the main-plaza at the civic center, Whitewashed bell-tower of the Cathedral … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa867U-uv","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1891"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1893,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891\/revisions\/1893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/ruescribe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}