Conjuring Memories

 

 

It’s not the yeasty smell of

Freshly baked bread or

The peppery smell of roses

The bring her back to me.

Although her oven produced

Magical loaves and her garden

Simmered with old fashioned roses,

It is the sharp, medicinal smell of

Vicks Vap-o-rub that conjures up

My mother’s memory and her gentle

Fingers smoothing the chilly potion

Over my sickly chest, spreading love.

 

–

Day 6 of PAD