Portugal

Cheeks flushed with the warm sun’s kiss

Sand soft underneath my feet and squished

Between my toes.

A gentle breeze lifts my hair,

Strands tickling my neck

Rolling waves with that ocean taste,

Sea salt spray sprinkled on my skin

With cliffs rising at my back.

A winding climb up through the rocks,

Beside a long drop to the sea,

Giant succulents and other plants

Growing up through the cracks

Where water erodes rock and sand

And I look across the wide expanse that hangs above the deep.

And there atop the climbing wall,

There’s a place that’s all our own.

Housed in that Mediterranean charm,

Where the safety of trust and love of adventure are,

Where we lie on the terrace and count up the stars,

The place where I have all that I want -

A place that I call home.