Irene’s travel credits include the mountains of central Mexico, the red rocks of Arizona and airport bathrooms everywhere. Her work can be found in the (now sadly defunct) Bullfight Review, The Baltimore Review and the occasional literary anthology. Her piece, “So the Lawyer You Married Wants to Devote His Life to Perfecting His Roundhouse Kick” won The Baltimore Review’s 2007 Creative Nonfiction Competition.
The local tour guide believes in leather boots with wide toes. Sturdy soles. Protein for breakfast.
The young sailor said he would give me a modicum of love if I let him use my body as a harbor.
The ticket seller would prefer to meet the guests outside, order them shortest to tallest, take the most boisterous by the hand.
The skull-like villa lost in a garden of dreams, so seem the isle’s cimitero:
I have fallen in love with winter, / with the day that ends at 3:45 in the afternoon. // with the man striding along the path grasping / a pink plastic bag that glows incandescent / although it only contains dish soap / and the cat food he carries home after work …
...you wonder again about the soul, / Where it hides, where it ventures. / There's always one you have to bring to oblivion...
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