Vibrating at the frequency of gold
-the Tabernacle
where flesh is turned into bread
and the transubstantiation
mutates molecules
for the greater good of humankind
The eye of the faithful trumped
to perceive Roman rosettes
where there are none
and Hellenistic columns
revisited when the human
mind was said to be born again.
A fresco of womanly care
receding in the shadows…
Could this be the right
receptacle where you go to collect
your thoughts today
seeking a Sicilian saint
amid the ruins
of the Post-
Post Age of Exploration,
Post Age of Enlightenment
Post Age of the New Liberated
Women and Men and Queers
Post Age of Truths
And Narrations?
Amid candles and incense
not too far, unbeknownst to me
another sacred space lies
offered by the Jesuits to the one I seek
the martyred girl subjected
to Roman double mastectomy
whose loss became a delight
for nuns’ confectionery
The density of Time and Geographies
layered itself upon the unaware
and the wares of the world
transmuted into sorrows and worries
that no trompe l’oeil could trick
into joy or nonexistence
But here, in this one receptacle of the transcendent,
I came seeking Agata, only to find
that this is the older space offered by the Knights Templar
to he who dispensed baptismal water
only later to lose his head
rather than to she who went missing
a set of different body parts
Yet, the Tabernacle, unmindful of territory
cruel practices and human mistakes
goes on shining its otherworldly light
unfazed.
.
Pina Piccolo, Imola, 30 October 2024
Cover image: Church of San Giovanni Vecchio, Imola