scent and safety

dog eared book pages
that have passed through
many hands and into many eyes
spearmint chewing gum
interweaving with the radiant musk
of a seasoned pipe on the bedside table
jet fuel fumes on cold, expectant
tuesday mornings, as I board
a plane to some place
I have never been
but always hoped to see
old basements, rust
and the steam exhaust
from laundry dryers
venting in winter
a woman's hair, infused
with a day of sunlight
and the ocean, splayed
across my face at night
a brewing thunderstorm
sweeping over dark
Iowan earth
the high, ethereal notes
of Indian curries
simmering in a stranger's home
brown leather hides
Crayola crayons broken
in half
snow, an hour before it falls
white cotton t-shirts
worn threadbare by a decade
of faithful service
an unexpected kiss
chewable vitamin C tablets
small apartments filled
with sandalwood incense burning
ice
bourbon on the breath
of a confessing friend
cheap champagne on
the lips of a new lover
shoelaces, rubber-bands and
hand braided hemp bracelets
my mother's kitchen
my father's electric razor
when I was 5

Reviews

[LR Young]

there is so much here that reminds me of all those Iowan years intermixed with the long road away from it. really subtle things you're doing with these images. quite nice.