On my walk to the bus stop I passed by St Calixtus Division of Calvary cemetery. I love the cemetery. So much history and sanctuary for many animals. Bunnies, geese, crows, peregrine falcons, the usual sparrows and starlings, bees, lightening bugs, worms, opossum, raccoons. Not to mention those that are not living. The cemetery is a testament to the many lives buried there and sustain the living animals so precious to Mother Nature.
Red brick house with bathrooms for visitors and offices for the gravediggers.
The gravediggers are always nearby at every burial wearing deep green uniform, at the ready to lower the caskets in the fresh dug trench.
Monuments with white steeples and crosses.
Statues on pedestals of Jesus, St. Michael, St. Mary, St Anthony and other ascended beings.
Ornate floral wreath designs carved into the marble along with the names of those in that plot.
Expertly mowed lawns.
A dark green golf car that shuffles the gravediggers all around the cemetery
The cart has a bright red teddy bear on the front leading the way to the next human exit.
Black wrought iron gate with swirls that look like faces and fences with spikes guard the perimeter.
Square stones below the fence acting as a fortress t keep the living out but the dead carry on.
Visitors wearing black driving in and out. Visitors wearing black walking in and out. Exercise warriors wearing neon green biking in and out.
Stone benches for the living.
Recently placed flowers dots the newly buried. Red roses, white lilies, blue, pink and yellow carnations with green ferns and white baby’s breath.
Six story high maple trees.
Old time silver chicken wire looking trash bins.
A funeral procession proceeded with the gates of heaven floral arrangement above the hearse. Flowers of very color and variety adorn the dead.
Pretend open books carved in gray marble.
New freshly dug rows of plots that used to be roadways.
Black car, silver car, ruffled pine bushes, wild red rose bushes.
Oak trees, holly bushes deep green with summer. The cerulean blue sky is streaked with white clouds marching above this stone city.
Long cement roads.
American flags of red, white and blue, children’s toys, grandmother’s face etched in the granite.
Lime stone slabs – once readable are now worn down to narrow slats that are unreadable.
Rows of mausoleums look like an abandoned city.
All the copper decorations have been stolen.
This cemetery dates back to the 1700’s.
All wars are represented.
Firemen, veterans, musicians, police officers, doctors, children, mothers, fathers, nuns, priests, one and all are welcome here.
A small chapel for Saturday afternoon mass where no one ever shows up.
Outside the stone wall a lady is selling cut up mangos and water.
Large amount of traffic passes by all day long. Blue buses, yellow trucks, double loaded FedEx trucks, taxies, cars of every color and style.
At the bus stop I wonder is anyone else ever notices the tiny details of these sacred grounds. The artwork, the history, the wonder of this land of the dead. So much to uncover. I love the cemetery so much and always will; I have lived near cemeteries my entire life. Played in them, visited them, meditated in them, heard voices and wept for the dead. I think when I die, I will truly rest in peace.
Just then as I move my awareness the bus arrives.
Georgia P,
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