Forms imbued with dampness often manifest themselves as scent.
Animal fur, skin and bone, stains of blood,
the searching tongue, teeth.
The concrete yard, an abandoned balcony,
tiles peeling from the wall, shattered flowerpots,
vines growing in wild disorder.
The milky-white mattress stripped of its springs,
love as an image,
twilight within the heart.
The newborn just after the waters have broken,
the soul left naked.
Gathered fragments, fabricated memories—
mountain woods, morning wind, the cowshed,
puddles, thunderstorms, dirt roads.
Countless times,
I pass before you.