Visited the Tomb of the Saints last week <br />At the catacombs, beneath blackened soil <br />Cracked cobblestone, its entry path <br />Outer walls wrapped, in pea-green moss <br />Ancient must grabs you by the throat <br />Coats your lungs like the Takla Makan <br />Yet, two-thousand years of ashened mire <br />Ne're waver curious minds, from visiting <br />Canonized souls, within hallowed walls <br />It's cellared cold dampness, chilling your marrow <br />And, the warmest days, cool your blood, and brow <br />Centuries of Godliness, imbedded, like stonehenge <br /> <br />Walk deep inside its sacred womb...explore <br />Touch the countless stoneheads one by one <br />Each crypt a storied tale beyond its epitaph <br />Tales of martyrdom, aberration....miracles confirmed <br />Read, the etched carvings 'tween aged crosslines <br />Remind yourself as to who they were <br />Before they stood before you here, in silent sainthood <br />The structure itself, wears a badge of discord <br />Hieroglyphics still vaguely legible.... <br />Saw the disfigured Cross of James The Lesser <br />So curved, it mirrored the twist of St. Bridget's <br />Time's touch is acrid, and boldly un-Christian <br /> <br />The chilled ambiance...eerily captive <br />Makes Grant's Tomb, seem like Strawberry Fields <br />Candles at night, only shadow this maze <br />Of the sacred remains, in thie caverned walls <br />Walking back on the cobblestone path, i muse <br />How faith, and sacrifice, still strike the heart <br />And my God....how my lungs ached for days <br />From the lingered must and moss that festered <br />As if Heaven made it clear, i would not soon forget <br />My visit, and experience in the catacombs <br />And i'm going back to the Tomb of the Saints <br />And revel in its holy echo, once again<br /><br />Frank James Ryan Jr...FjR<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-tomb-of-the-saints-a-visit-to-the-catacombs/
