Some thoughts in Seville Cathedral

Set off in the fifteenth century 
and after many years’ travelling
(our hair was white, our skin flabby)
we reached the cathedral of Seville:
large, light, soaring upwards.
Where, in a shadowy corner
we found the tomb of Christopher Columbus
(didn’t expect to see him there)
born aloft in a draped coffin
carried on poles by four crowned men 
dressed in medieval battle gear.
Why does he deserve this?
Of course: all that gold and silver 
scrounged, stolen and brought back from the New World
so that Spain didn’t need to develop
factories, industries — or indeed do anything 
until the pots ran dry.
When it was a bit too late.
England and other northern countries
were steaming ahead 
racing into the Industrial Age…
Now here is Cristofero Colon 
in this stunning Gothic and Baroque setting. 

Who do we make into our heroes?
When we arrived, over five hundred years on,
We could sit there, in CC’s burial place, and listen
to Spanish Renaissance music, voices like incense rising.
Glorious in the enfolding silence.
There are many aspects of culture…