Saint Peter Cathedral (Free Verse Sonnet) Poem by Gert Strydom

(after S. J. Pretorius)

Some people view St. Peter as a holy place
and the mosaic pictures with time do loose their colour,
as thousands of people do daily walk there,
are attracted to that place by a wish for God,
there are people who cover their faces in prayer
and some ill people do tear a person's heart in two
but I wonder if the images do forfeit passage to heaven,
see pillars crumble when I leave with the street,
on balconies I notice beautiful prostitutes with red ribbons in their hair,
on a wall the words do scream out:"new Italy, "
almost anything that a person can think of is for sale in this Rome,
where the place looks more like Gomorra than Johannesburg,
when crowds, scooters and cars do join me
and losing my way unable to speak the language I walk further.

[Reference: "Sint Pieter" (Saint Peter)by S. J. Pretorius.]

© Gert Strydom