The Pines of Rome

Since I was a girl, traveling with my mother to Rome for the first time, I'd always believed that these pines were a species of tree. It was only years later after I came to understand the Italian aesthetic that I understand that actually they are pruned like this. To preserve the shade yet let the light in.

It is hard for me to walk among these pines and not think of my mother who loved them. Or remember that it was in this very park that I heard catcalls for the first time and had no idea what they were. Or that they were intended for me.