Hour 19 

 

Casco Viejo, Panama City                     Mary Pecaut

 

Today I walk on cobbled streets, pass

facades – window frames frame

frangipanis, doorways speak of pirates past 

missionaries and colonizers.

 

I might be a sympathizer

so in love with history am I.  What might

be lost and what’s the cost

as we gentrify?

 

What of Luis, un-homed in the open air

behind Plaza Herrera square- this casco

where he studied and grew,

his childhood home – a five star condo-

left to panhandle for a brew.

 

The bell from Iglesia de la Merced

tolls telling a time when the church 

was rebuilt stone by stone. A time

when pirates burned the city down.

A time when Jesuits, homeless on the beach

rose and built La Campania de Jesus –

a convent to convert. Luis tells me he is Catholic.

We are all looking to save and be saved.