‘Vera Crux’: A Poem by Joseph S. Salemi

Vera Crux

Vera Crux is Latin for “True Cross,” and is the source of
the name of the Mexican city Veracruz, which was founded
by the conquistador Hernán Cortés on Good Friday in 1519.
Veracruz became one of the richest cities in colonial Mexico
because of its substantial export of gold and silver.

Named for the day our Savior offered up
His flesh and blood upon the holy cross
(The blood from His flank caught in an angel’s cup,
The flesh consigned to Joseph). All seemed loss,

Defeat, the end, and hopeless desolation.
And yet He was triumphant over death,
And here in a new-born and new Christian nation
Our city Veracruz took her first breath.

We grew as rich as Croesus—ingots stacked
As high as mounted lancers filled the docks.
And golden nuggets in great chests were packed
As ballast in fat galleons that rocked

Like heavy cradles on their crescent frames.
Pirates swarmed, like locusts in the waves,
But cannons from our warships spouted flames—
We watched their corpses sink in briny graves.

That was where we scorned all pious tears—
We did not mill like sheep before The Lord
Waiting in humble patience for the shears,
But struck with halberd, culverin, and sword.

Our priests and friars, prating about pity,
Kept their mouths shut when we saved their skins.
They did not mind when guns preserved the city,
And did not preach to us about our sins.

That is the tale of Veracruz. The facts
Were these: that mercy didn’t save our gold;
That Spanish steel beat off those vile attacks
And gave us all new chances to grow old.

That is the Vera Crux—a bloody saber,
A ball of grapeshot in a pirate’s face;
A twenty-pounder and a guncrew’s labor
Focusing on the foemen in a chase.

Humility, forbearance, and the like
Are nice when you’re a hermit in a cell.
But if you don’t know how to wield a pike,
Right here on earth you’ll get a taste of hell.

So skip the preachy homily and sermon,
The lesson about turning other cheeks.
We saved the city from those loathsome vermin.
In war the cannon—not the Bible—speaks.

Poet’s Note

I composed this piece a few years ago, and published it under a pseudonym. It was intended as a simple fictive narration that could be taken at face value, or else as an allegorical-argumentative poem about the fatal schism in Western thought that frequently paralyzes necessary action in the face of danger.

There is an intentional contrast of the Latin phrase Vera Crux (“true cross’) with the Spanish reflex Veracruz (the name of a city) as a verbal hint of what is being argued in the text. The Latin phrase represents religious orthodoxy and all the rules and moral strictures associated with religion. The name Veracruz represents a real-world Spanish city, with a culture informed by religious orthodoxy, but faced with actual enemies and the prospect of robbery, ruin, and ravishment.

What does a rich and prosperous city do in the face of barbarians, savages, pirates, and predatory foreigners? Listen to the orthodox preachings of love, forbearance, and brotherhood from its clergy, or blast the enemy with culverin cannon and grapeshot? Will Veracruz be saved by weak, scripture-quoting effeminacy, or by warlike masculinity?

The choice of the poem’s speaker is clear. But the choice of the Western world right now is not. Are we going to continue worshipping “the Others,” and debasing and degrading ourselves before them, or are we going to blast them with broadside volleys, and tell our milksop clergy to screw off?

Joseph S. Salemi has published five books of poetry, and his poems, translations and scholarly articles have appeared in over one hundred publications world-wide.  He is the editor of the literary magazine TRINACRIA and writes for Expansive Poetry On-line. He teaches in the Department of Humanities at New York University and in the Department of Classical Languages at Hunter College.