Barcelona Sandals


Standing in the Andorra snow

shivering in our Barcelona sandals.

Glad of a lift down to Foix

as darkness was falling.

And the driver knew a hotel,

Hotel du Centre.

Very grand

and full

of people looking down

long noses.

But the driver knew the owner

who was a kind man,

a nice man.

So we shouldn't worry 

about the cost, he said.


A lovely room

and in the morning,

breakfast!

We must eat

the owner said.

Warm bread and jam.

Coffee with hot milk

which tasted sour.

But I don't like

the taste of milk,

anyway,

so most likely

it was sweet.


And then the bill.

But there was no bill.

Save it for the journey,

the owner said.

A kind man,

a nice man,

who believed

the driver's story,

whatever it was.


A few years later, 

we returned to Foix

and went to find 

Hotel du Centre.

But it wasn't there.

No one knew it.

It didn't exist.

Did it ever exist?

Did any of it happen?

Or did we somehow

share

a memory 

from our 

imaginations.


https://fragmentedmagazine.com/projects/






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