EARTHBORNE ONLINE POETRY MAGAZINE

BEAUTIFUL FACES

 

– the Saracens! the Saracens!

the Saracens are coming!

–the plain, pious paintings

in the Rabat catacombs

are letting these shrieks

penetrate their silent darkness

patiently awaiting the shouts

and swords of the invaders

 

– idolatry! idolatry!

let the flames of our torches

light up these heathen frescos

–while the swords and the daggers

which won´t win the siege of Malta,

erase the faces of the saints

leaving the dishes with St. Agatha´s

breasts and St. Lucia´s eyes untouched

 

turning these long dead ladies

into some kind of mega-martyrs

to be pitied and prayed to

all over again

making every Christian visitor

and artist alike

imagine the most beautiful faces

in the place of that bit of lost paint.