For A.P. and R.R.
The sun rests its tired head
on the mountainous curves
of Montenegro, its bronzed heart
aims arrows of yearning
at the Adriatic Sea.
The dancer of Budva pleads
with the wind to return her sailor
to her side, but her words break
against the rocks while onlookers
throw invisible flowers at her feet.
This local legend about loyal love
stirs something within me,
but it’s too much for me to bear.
So, I pluck mementos like low-
hanging fruit at tourist stands.
When my friend says,
“Montenegro doesn’t hide its light,”
I see her — The woman who dances
at the seaside with her outstretched
arm reaching toward the expanse.
As I sail away, she calls out to me
over many waters and inspires me
to step out of the shadows
and into a whole-souled life.
Patricia Cannon
Patricia Cannon has been a Registered Nurse at UCSF since 2001. She has worked in cardiac critical care, neurointensive care, heme oncology, school nursing, and currently, in research. Her passion is her faith, photography, and the written word in all its forms. Montenegro first appeared in the Redwood Writers Anthology Phases edited by Les Bernstein and Fran Claggett-Holland.