by T.S. Hidalgo
Artwork, “Layers (Shades of Green)” by Patty Ploehn
<<Fucking Hell, I can´t believe it!,
what is the Valle de los Caídos* doing in the middle of Paradise?>>,
xxxx asked, on their honeymoon,
when they arrived at the USS Arizona Memorial
(ranked No. 1 out of 312 things to do in Honolulu,
according to TripAdvisor).
Subtle paradox, right?
Following that argument,
Hawaii itself happens to be the leader,
out of 50 states,
in a matter of homeless per million inhabitants.
Further still,
some Pacific islands remain uninhabited,
because of atomic tests
(including Bikini Atoll,
smaller than the world´s smallest swimsuit).
In a nutshell,
a sort of paradise, in its version Jekyll and Hyde:
Gauguin become White trash,
living within nothing less than a barrack of fair,
facing a courtyard filled with rubble
(or perhaps a vehicle that does not work).
What for, then, a Purgatory,
with seven cornices?
(not to mention the Ante-Purgatory).
Light is merely a reflection on the lens,
maybe.
* A basilica-monument near Madrid dedicated to those fighters who died in the Spanish Civil War, and in which former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco was buried.
