Eternal disappearance

Yesterday we went to the cemetery and bought a hatstand. Well the hatstand was bought in a shopping centre.

St Peter's is listed as a tourist attraction. It contains the tombs of an ex-Colombian president and a national artist, Cano. It also contains a mausoleum marked, Tomb of My Sons, for a family of young drug dealers murdered while at work.

There are strange things here too. The visitors brochure outlines the procedure: the beloved´s remains are kept for four years, after which you have 8 days to either exhume or pay more. The brochure states that "eternal rest is offered with easy payment facilities." No mention is made of eternal disappearance, but that is implied if you don´t pay up.

An air of hopelessness marks the sky scraper type burial niches with the pain of loss failing to be offset by a hope of resurrection and eternal happiness.

In contrast the same day we read a street poet's chalkings on the road:

If you bring me comfort by your word,
How much more when I fully know you.

The poet's parents were killed 13 years ago, he lives rough and says his inspiration comes from heaven.

I must tell you about the hatstand sometime.

Photo: Chapel, St Peter's cemetery, Medellín

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