Another Breath Poem
First breath takes in spring winds blowing down slopes
of the Rockies over lilies of the valley and lilacs to new me.
My first mingled breath with a brown-haired boy named Darrel
as we stood nervous in a shack with a Black Widow near.
Summer breath mingled with wild clover and mustard,
freshly mowed hay, dank aromas of rich earth in the air.
New breath of yucca blossoms tinged with hot sands
from winds blowing across a desert I did not yet love.
Later, when I breathed in the cloven leaves of creosote
after a rain, my lungs grow fingers to stroke the air’s hair.
New breath now mingles grass and maple leaves and pine
that becomes a pool I want lie in, suspended, and gaze at the sky.
Lillies of the valley, lilacs, clover, mustard and all the the other natural smells…nice. I have not smelled lilacs for 33 years…moved from the northeast to the south, and lilacs don’t do well in the deep south.
Lovely. Simply lovely.And so appreciate the creosote. A startling reminder of what does not smell so lovely in our lives. Thank you. And to describe the smell of creosote as clover. remarkable! Thank you.