{"id":4808,"date":"2022-02-28T23:38:23","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T23:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/farefwd.com\/?p=4808"},"modified":"2022-03-31T22:41:56","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T22:41:56","slug":"turrets-and-telescopes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/28\/turrets-and-telescopes\/","title":{"rendered":"Turrets and Telescopes"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Turrets and Telescopes<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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By Andy Stager<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tourists in Tuscany can\u2019t help but trip
over all we call \u2018architecture.\u2019
No matter how fleeting their fling
with Florence, regardless of how brisk
their swing through Sienna\u00a0
or the speed with which they lean
into and out of love with Pisa,\u00a0<\/p>

something haunts their saunters,
towers above their traipsings
through the olive groves, bars
them from too much amusement
in the face of fortressed enclaves
perched high above potato fields
and luxuriating vineyards.\u00a0<\/p>

An accordion swells its announcement
across the piazza: the coast is clear
for the Instagram kiss at the far end
of the selfie stick. But the city gate
itself spoils the mood as it broods
above unpuckered lips. In the mists of
time these very gates\u00a0<\/p>

were slammed in the face
of advancing armies. The lookout
towers testify to olive marauders
and grape thieves of bygone days.
The city itself still stands tall\u00a0
with shoulders squared and helmet
in place against the unneighborly\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

near and far. Surely kill and be killed
can\u2019t fill a vision to the brim.\u00a0
Surely a young man aspires to a quiet
not procured by armed watchmen\u2019s
spires, or hard-won by armies, blood-
borne Pax Romana on repeat? Might
there be more along some blissful shore\u00a0<\/p>

than merely being a brother\u2019s keeper?
Could a man\u2019s castello <\/em>yet become
simply his casa<\/em>, a hammock tied taut
in the shade of his portico, a bottle
of his own wine tucked tight beside,
his son surveying the vines across the
handlebars of his vintage Vespa,\u00a0<\/p>

heaven\u2019s chariot? Might the watchtowers
transform into city gates through which
an untroubled man on his estate
procures nightly telescopic beholdings
of still-distant heavens, pointing the lens
at far-flung piazzas and pointing his
freshly-puckered lips, no selfie stick\u00a0<\/p>

in sight, at his stargazing bride?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Andy Stager<\/strong>, an Ohio native, has lived and written poetry in South Carolina, South Korea, and Switzerland. He is completing his PhD in theology with Trinity College Bristol and Aberdeen University, and is pursuing a DMin in ‘The Sacred Art of Writing’ at Western Theological Seminary. He pastors Saint Patrick Presbyterian\u00a0Church in Denver, where he lives with his wife and three sons. His poetry has appeared in\u00a0<\/em>Ekstasis.<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A poem by Andy Stager<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":4810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_header_footer","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-issue-16","category-poetry","entry","has-media"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/italy-g5c625583c_1920.jpg?fit=1920%2C1280&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4808"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5188,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4808\/revisions\/5188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.ph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