A Stone's Throw

practice your aim. you never know when you'll spy 2 birds at once.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Cemetery Cats

Cats dig dead people. Maybe even more than they like us alive. And in Cementerio de la Recoleta they have full run of the place.

The ornate tombs are a veritable who´s who of Argentinan history, where the likes of Eva Peron lay to rest beside the generals, the poets, and the deceased members of the upper crust with enough clout to gain admittence.

Yet within this veritable city of the dead it is the cats who reign. Perched on the steps of the regal monuments, the cats watch everyone that passes with intense scrutiny. It´s as if the spirits of those entombed have taken on the feline shape and guard their places of rest with ferocity.

Walking the many streets of the mini-city sends chills up your spine. The elaborate marble facades, the gloomy sarcophagi, the angels soaring on rooftops, the steep steps leading deep into the dark crypts, the weather-worn sculptures, and the eyes of the cats, alter your senses.

A shadow moves. Was it the sun peaking through the clouds or was it something else? Deep within a crypt the lid of a coffin seems to shift. Wind whistles through the tombs and it sounds like words. You look around and you´re alone, but are you? You feel the eyes of the dead watching, considering, and you shake it off, certain its only your nerves. But then, to your right, on the marble edge of a tomb a cat sits staring at you.

Does the cat know something I don´t? Clearly. And it´s keeping it to itself.

2 Comments:

  • At 6:36 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    I say, never trust a cat. They use humans and then turn their backs on you....cemetery cats are probably even worse...

    dad

     
  • At 6:25 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

    Well written article.

     

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