How It Happened

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?

(Chelsea Rathburn)

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