Mansion Beach 1971 Nighttime along the beach, the summer waves throbbing with fish, silver shadows in the waters from the moonlight coming down, quiet along the grassy dunes, hundreds of blackbirds flying in the dark, she cooks over the fire; she smiles as his hand touches the back of her shoulder, she turns and nobody is there. Nella nerezza You wake up every day, Shower and brush your teeth, Read the New York Times on the subway, Quiet as you snake through the veins of James Dean’s arms, You stare off into the distant dark of tunnel, Everything in this world bringing you back to me, Our souls like topaz, water lilies bursting out of fire, I love you as a child is loved, The way the tide washes over the shoreline, You know these things in the deepest parts of your soul, Where thoughts never leave, are never whispered, At your desk at your work you think of this, The words hidden beneath your fingernails, Rope instead of obligation, caught instead of freed, People are right in front of you, But my hands touch your mouth, your hair, your eyes, I love you like this, always in twilight, My soul in love with the essence that is your voice, You keep telling yourself this and even more, You go to lunch, Buy a sandwich with change at the deli, You dream of Italian words that you’ve heard: “turista” Jeanpaul Ferro's work has recently been featured in Cortland Review, Southern Cross Review, Portland Monthly, Hawaii Review, Newport Review, Galley Sail Review, Aurora Review, Pedestal Magazine, Mid-South Review, and others. His book of short fiction, All the Good Promises, was published in 1994 by Plowman Publishers. He has recently been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by The Rose & Thorn Literary Journal, and his poetry has been featured on WBAR radio in NYC. Additionally, some of his short fiction will appear this summer in Underground Window’s Best of Anthology.

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