Here is the Next Installment in the Ongoing Poem Saga About the Summer of 2006

July 17, 2006
Over the weekend

at the farmers market we got
among a great many other things
(eggs! stone fruit! turnips! tomatoes! cauliflower!)
a teeny tiny bouquet of lily of the valley

small enough to fit in a small jam jar
on the shelf in the hall by the bowl
where we try to always keep our keys
With such small demure downturned white blossoms

It doesn’t smell up the whole hall
the way the lavender did
(the lavender which met with such a gristly end
by way of mold which still makes me shudder just thinking about it)

but often when I walk past
I’ve been moved to pause
and put my face down near the flowers for a sniff
and it is just divine let me tell you

Reminds me of both my mother and grandmother
for vague reasons I can’t entirely recall
having to do with a bottle of perfume
and maybe some scented soaps


image source is here