aromatic memory

what was it in their hair

that enveloped the heart,

what was it that they must have

doused themselves in

that seared a scar on the inside of

the mind,

like some tribal tattoo,

like some stabbing blade

diving down with all the purpose in

the world---

a blade shaped triangular,

so as to leave a hole that never

heals?

what hold this olfactory memory

has on us,

when two decades later,

walking innocently in a store,

that same scent s/he wore

invades our lives,

flipping us upside down,

tearing us all up inside again &

leaving us shaking in the corner

with hopes that it will leave us

alone,

at least for a few years.