Northern Ireland I

My grandma died an Irish death. Had an Irish wake. We sat with her ghost, telling stories. Drinking whiskey from the bottle. Late into the night.

London IV

We saw the Queen. Bright purple pill box hat.  Lost, from a different time.  She emerged from behind the bars like history fleeing a museum.

London III

We never mourn toy soldiers. They end their lives in waste bins, or under the burning ray of a magnifying glass on a sweltering July day. I wonder if they have toy wives and children to mourn their loss. Barbie in a black lace veil. A Cabbage Patch child crying saline tears.

London II

From this distance, it is a matchbook structure. A pale frozen miniature. A bread crumb I could crush with my pinky finger. And leave it crumbling, tumbling, falling down.

London I

For a second all noise ceased. Frail and hunched, he leaned on his cane. Yet, his eyes told a story of a strong, proud man. A slightly sad man. His eyes spoke of knowledge. Knowledge that one is often not the better for having.

The Pyrenees VII

Castle walls lit golden against violet hills.  Brambles grew in every direction and blocked our way home.  Princesses lost in a darkening wood.

The Pyrenees VI

A chorus of jingle bells exploded over the hillside. We braced ourselves, expecting dancing bears, or herded sheep. The beast exploded out of pine and privet. It’s weapon drooled, leaving a trail. A slug trail, dripping on grass like dew, as it hunted its master’s meal.

The Pyrenees V

We purchased warm baguettes. Steam rising from crusty exteriors. Using the bread like a rusty sword we fought off the demons that had gnawed our insides raw.

The Pyrenees IV

Half shrouded in dappled sunlight, half in blue mist. I lay in dead leaves and inhaled a breath of fungal spores. Musty and earthen. Humus destroyed hubris and let me just be.

The Pyrenees III

Huddled under blankets in a 30 degree hotel room. Breath freezing with every exhale. I looked through pale curtains at a palm tree. How did it survive these temperatures while I struggled, shivering, to drag myself into the day.