in the soft rain
we leave the puddled,
quiet neighborhood
with quiet smiles
crossing the cobbled streets
where we tired our feet
lifted our spirits
searched for adventures
and something delightful to eat
finding unpretentious magic
and the rise and fall
of long echoed music
along the narrow streets
and shaded plazas
where hardworking waiters
dart back and forth
between a constant, quiet flow
of ever-changing faces
and quietly buzzing kitchens
one door down
or across the street
passing busy thoroughfares
where birds
still out-sing the traffic
and traffic
respects the process
of well placed paths
and being polite
everything moving
as a flamenco dancer
powerful
purposeful
graceful
otherworldly
yet never far from
shadowed sanctums
with colorful tiles
along grand palace walls
cool against my back
or in the generous parasol
of a giant tree
where there is rest
peace
untroubled by the noise of the world
and the noises in me
these now familiar sites
fading to vague silhouettes
fill my mind
with happy thoughts
as we quietly
disappear
Author: Anne Celano Frohna
I have been writing for as long as I could hold a pencil in hand and would not feel complete without it.
And I actually made a meager living at it (and as an editor) for 25 years.
I worked for newspapers and magazines, in graphic arts and advertising, and wrote several local history books.
But I have also taught English in Japan, been a Nanny/family chef in Italy, worked in and for museums, was an Airbnb Superhost for four years, as well as an Etsy shop owner, where I sold vintage items I found over the years at thrift stores and yard sales.
After moving to Arizona with my family in 2010, I completed a series of different writing projects, including two books of creative non-fiction:
Just West of the Midwest: a comedy (Based on journals I kept during my two years as an English teacher in rural Japan.)
Within Close Range: short stories of an American Childhood (Short stories and poems about growing up as the middle of five children in suburban Chicago.)
But in the past few years, I have found my voice in poetry.
I am a mother of two wonderful girls, Eva (26) and Sophia (24) and wife to one wonderful husband, Kurt.
In 2023, with our girls grown and off on their own, my husband and I packed up our things and moved to the tip of Italy’s heel, to the Salento region, where I continue to work on my poetry, as well as a new fiction project, and indulge in my passion for mosaics - all of which you can view on my Instagram page @ acfrohna.
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Dog-eared Stories by anne celano frohna 