Would you like some? My wife made it: pastrami and mozzarella. She made the bread too, you can see the impression of her kneading knuckles indented in the ciabatta. I work with leather, and Sylvia with dough. I hammer heels, cut out soles, stick down tongues, I stitch horse hide and she stitches up my socks when my toes start poking out. I kiss her toes, long and dainty, massaging them before bed. Our rough fingers meet on Sundays, my only day off, as we hold hands and stroll along the Po. When piano music lilts down from Garibaldi’s on the hill, I twirl her under my arm and pull her in close, so close, that we can catch each other’s scent and blend into our own: flour, sweat, leather and love.
has words in Splonk, Scrawl Place, The Ekphrastic Review, Lumiere Review, Janus Literary, Fractured Lit, The Forge, Ellipsis Zine, Maryland Literary Review, Bending Genres, and others. She has recently received a Pushcart nomination for her microfiction, and is a Best Microfiction nominee for 2023. She loves costumes, capes, Bowie, ruins, and Síle-na-Gigs. Her writing is inspired by art, folklore, history, and travel. She’s currently putting together a flash fiction collection.
