How it Happened

I blame that little village in Spain,
the one with the whitewashed houses
in a crescent along the sea,
a fleet of pastel fishing boats,
and that celebrated coffee with brandy.

A sour wedge of apple lurked
at the bottom like a tea-leaf fortune.

Because we couldn't afford the fish
we ate pizza with peaches and oregano
on the beach, the sun and breeze conspiring.

Seeing us there beneath the cliffs
and the postcards of the cliffs,
who wouldn't have predicted luck and beauty?
Can I be blamed for loving it all
and thinking it was you I loved?

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Copyright © 2011 Chelsea Rathburn All rights reserved
from New Ohio Review
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission