My poem about Rio de Janeiro’s emblematic hunchback hill, crowned by a massive white statue of Christ, is up this week on the community writing site “Pilgrims Poem.” Please click here to check it out!
If anyone is interested in sharing their work, I recommend writing to the very kind editor of the site. Instructions on how to submit can be found here.
Below is the text of my poem.
Corcovado
The idea was good,
or nobody would have
3.2 million in dollars today
to claim the works of God
below:
Black whale boulders beached
by Guanabara bay,
Dripping buildings with coastal
window holes,
Polka dot slums that cut
the jungle into picture frames,
A perpetual diorama
if you go to Niteroi.
The blue white yellow gold
of kept sand and moving foam,
Without Christ, the hunchback hill
another splendid rock to draw
behind a neon drink.
But the praying ladies of Rio
got redemption right – the leaning
face, the human arms –
and torched their city with holy light
so we can burn our skin unseen
by the would-be cliff, the unfinished crowd.