THE LAND OF UNLIKENESS

I was on a ferry a few weeks ago, from Drvenic, Croatia to the island of Hvar. It was late in the afternoon, with a phosphorescent Mediterranean haze hanging over the rugged dry mountains and over the stellar blue Adriatic. Dalmatia. On the boat there was this little girl, maybe 9 or 10 years old, leaning over the railing and singing her heart out to the sea. I couldn’t hear her over the motor, but I could see her arms spread out, spread something like a mother’s arms for a son lost at sea, or maybe a lover’s arms for the one that got away, or maybe both once. Something like Aphrodite and the BVM combined. Continue reading ‘Aphrodite and the BVM’