Secular Pope Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

The secular Pope

Cuba 1957, Havana was full of randy tourists,
prostitutes, gambling casinos and assassins.
Castro was still up his mountain stronghold,
when a robber came onboard our ship;
he was caught on the wooden dock by two
police officers, who pocketed his loot.
He was told to run away and then they shot
him dead…five bullets in his back.
Young red blood dripped into turquoise sea.
The officers laughed holstered guns and lit
Marlboro cigarettes. But Fidel Castro was on
his way down from the mountain and Cuba
would get her dignity back.