Perfume

Perfume by Odin Roark What glides before him This movement of grace Inducing memory Of fragrant presence Flowers of long ago Waft through light leaks Cracks in the closure Where mind’s nakedness Once roamed Humidity Aroma’s constant friend Visited often This heart of romantic wanderings Whether at a seashore’s bamboo bar Manhattan’s concert in the park Or a rainy night in Vermont All stood attentive to awakening’s dew point Today Amidst the clarity of drifting’s past His desert café of coffee and unlit cigarettes Neon flashes spark the mirrors “Open 24 hours” Such recalls the never sleep Always ready heart and mind Once forever gathering Scents of old and young Now but the aroma of standing coffee Where spoon and cream Offer little relief Where perfume will never dance Again