Primal Memories

It started with the scent of jasmine
and before I even knew the source
just like that I was seduced
then once I turned and saw her
sight and smell forever linked
together they made me bold

Time strengthened our memory-smell bond
half-empty glasses of Cab on the nightstand
her own unique scent blended with my own
the comforting whiffs of daybreak
Golden Retriever breath alarm clock
first sharp hiss of French roast

Our lives connected at every turn
through the sensory richness
of travel and changing seasons
hot cider and fall leaves burning
popcorn at our favorite indie movie house
cherry blossoms in Kyoto in April

Today I can’t recall small things
like her favorite colors or the names of her crazy friends
but even months later
still scattered about my life and my home
her lingering scent controls my attention
I can’t get it off of me

~ J. D. Mackenzie

(inspired by NaPoWriMo prompt for Day #16 from Julie Jordan Scott, the art of writing from the sense of smell)

We Deserve Better

Winter is barely over
yet we still bear the marks of that season of death
like scars made by talons sunk into our backs

We've lived on the fringe of a real life
for far too long and now it's time
to get that taste out of our mouths

We need to rest our yellowing bruises
and limp away toward something better

We will not be anyone's marionette
in this boring, soul crushing life any longer

We deserve better

It's time to stow away to somewhere rustic and real
I want to light torches of pitched pine and hike
down to the hot springs on the Wind River

We'll carry a jug of that stuff your cousin makes
when she's not making disturbing art
We'll lie in the swirling mineral waters
and pumice each other in the glow of a crackling campfire
Hike back through the late snows
massage the chi back into our needy flesh

I need to strum my double-O eighteen Martin
and I need to strum you, beloved
until your strings twang
and the alphas howl along

I'm missing the sweetest sound in the world
you know the one
let's make it together
again and again and again

~ J. D. Mackenzie

(inspired by napowrimo prompt #9 choosing your mission from among twelve)