holiday romance

Baltimore, Ireland. 1970

We talked of red roses
we talked of sorrento
while the other kids drank to their pledge

We walked to the beacon
then out at the beacon
held hands and then
went to the edge

she told me she loved me
I told her my fears
we talked of red roses
we talked of Sorrento

Her name was Penelope
the same as my sister
which smacked of incest
each time that I kissed her

On the well rounded bottom
of an overturned inflatable
and all was in reach
but how far was debatable
down there
down on the beach

Under a mans checked shirt

we talked of red roses
we talked of sorrento
we parted agreeing no contact was best

On a postcard weeks later
she wrote of red roses
she wrote of sorrento
she wrote of red roses on a card from sorrento

Without a return address.