Fog Truck Afternoon, Izmir, Turkey by Anna Citrino

The mechanical whirring hum alerted us.

We left our paperwork, and went to discover

what created such a commotion.

In the street below something like fog 

poured from a tank at a truck’s backend,

billowing over children’s half-obscured bodies 

as, giggling with glee, they raced behind, 

playing hide and seek inside the rolling 

gray-brown clouds. 

Pesticide, we understood, as the fumes 

drifted up and the truck rumbled from sight,

the childrens’ delighted screams 

fading in the distance.

Anna Citrino grew up in California and taught abroad in international schools in the countries of Turkey, Kuwait, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, India, and the UK for twenty-six years. Her current home is in the hills of Soquel, California. Ms. Citrino's work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and has appeared in various literary journals including, Canary, Paterson Literary Review, and The Evening Street Review, among other publications. She is the author of  A Space Between, and two chapbooks, Saudade and To Find a River.  Read more of Anna's writing at annacitrino.com