I remember someone admitting
that all they could remember from War and Peace
was the story of a policeman tied to the back of a bear
and thrown into the canal.
And having read the Eye Witness guide to San Sebastian
on a flight from Dublin to Bilbao
and tasted, on arrival, the city's Top Ten
and a plate or two of pintxos,
I have to admit that the daily highlight for me
was the fellow at the corner cafe,
his black txpela, finger softened to a peaked front
speaking basque to his dog
as he sipped his cafe solo.
A caricature almost of a Basque separatist,
lean to the point of wiry, or visa versa,
nonchalant to the point of dour.
And given my own Celtic ancestry
I bought myself a beret,
or rather several of them
But failed to create the same effect-
lacking perhaps the required fluency in Gaelic,
the correct amount of finger dexterity,
never mind the dog,
and not forgetting my complete lack of nonchalance.
Copyright 2026 Cathy Leonard
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