Afternoon Verse in Cádiz
Selma and I stand beside a statue of the poet Carlos Edmundo de Ory in the Alameda Apodaca y del Marqués de Comillas. Statues of other poets and writers are scattered around this landscaped walkway in the historic center of Cádiz. It runs parallel to the sea and the city wall from east to west that begins at the walls of San Carlos and ends between the Baluarte de la Candelaria and the church of Carmen.

We walk around the port section of Cádiz until we reach the Cathedral of the Americas, where a Roma woman creates bubbles from chains. We pay to enter the cathedral and visit the crypts and then walk all the way to the top of the tower, from where we can see both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

The sunshine, the bubbles, the cathedral, and the history of Càdiz inspire me. And in From Cádiz to Málaga I pay homage to Gloria Fuentes, Carlos Edmundo de Ory, Federico Garcia Lorca, and Allen Ginsberg. All these poets are connected through time, space, and words.
From Cádiz to Málaga
By Anniqua Rana
A new moon
Lingers in the evening sky
Stealing light from behind
The Cathedral of The Americas
Awaiting our arrival
While we choose the scenic route
To Carlos Edmundo
Who waves at doves
Splashing
At the fountain
In the garden of Càdiz
The burning sun celebrates afternoon crows
As bubbles burst midair
Born from chains of pleasure
In the Mediterranean
In the Atlantic
In the Americas
In Spain
In Africa
El mar conoce mi paso
Words are energy.
He says
Not the wind giants
Blowing us all the way
back
home
Across the Sierra de Cádiz
To the Montes de Málaga
The opposite of open poetry is propaganda.
He continues
Exhaling mold from crypts, memories of tourists crawl
And then rush
Pulling children
Up to the gelataria
For cono de helado
Sipping cerveza, Gloria glances around.
was the author of Don Quixote.
Ginsberg knowingly nods
We are
He says
Sin permiso de ser ángeles
Carlos Edmundo de Ory and Allen Ginsberg
Carlos Edmundo de Ory’s role in Spain is similar to that of Allen Ginsberg‘s and the Beat poet’s in the United States: Spanish poetry evolved to include new language and imagery. Ginsberg with Edith Grossman translated some of Ory’s poetry and titled it Angel Without a Permit.
Create Cultural Memories through Literature and Art
Poetry by Federico Garcia Lorca that inspired me.

Lovely pictures and an interesting read!
I really enjoyed your blog, the poetry and the pictures. You brought that part of Spain to life. I could practically hear the music and smell that special perfume that wafts on the warm air and is Spain for me.
Elizabeth