Can't Find It Here


Finding myself
without a path
I traveled
from California
to New Orleans
now

and not knowing where to look
I found myself where others
like me
go

an old church
a tourist trap
a photo-op
all of the above.

To the
St. Louis Cathedral,
in the French Quarter.

Its old age
has made it attractive
to fireflies
like me.

The Roman Catholics
have stood here
since 1718

making this place,
where I have found
myself standing,
the oldest operating
Cathedral
in the country.

Virtuous at all sides,
all angles
all lenses.

Intrinsic beauty
and lore
building higher
with every
death of a memory

I think
this might be it,
as I meander inside
Its belly.

Then

a black Plexiglas sign,
with bold white letters,
stops me.

Staining
St. Louis Cathedral's main hall
with its utilitarian
and
soulless modernism,

it stands before me.

Guarding
the first step
towards the pulpit
it reads:

PLEASE DO NOT
ENTER
THE SANCTUARY

So close.