Kickoff

Rattling and clanking Starting after the November thermostat click. I love the smell of the house When my dad would first turn on the furnace For the winter. It is a fungus-growing-on-rotting-tree smell, Something slightly burning. Soon to follow: the counters covered In Chex and pretzel sticks and mixed nuts On greasy paper towels, I love the smell of the kitchen When my mom practices grandma’s old recipes For the holidays. It is a hot-water-hitting-cocoa-mix smell, Something to come inside to from the Spearmint cold. Then: relatives visit from down the street And down in Texas, all smelling The same scents of my home And happily intruding with their cigarette-and-leather Or Coors Light-and-cologne smell in my life, Rattling and clanking.