Friends,
Today’s May Poetry Prompt is AROMA.
What a great word! I want to thank you again for being here and writing poetry with me. I look forward to your poems every morning when I wake up, and writing poetry has been such good medicine for me in these heavy days.
Alongside the text of the poem below, I’m reading the poem for you— just click the link above to listen!
Aroma comes from the Greek word for spice,
so I close my eyes and picture my garden—
no, I close my eyes and I picture that corner
of the kitchen where
I keep store-bought spices:
turmeric
oregano
thyme
curry
chili powder
cumin
paprika
fennel
pepper
all the favorites that I pull out
to create concoctions,
that fill the room with that aroma,
that deep sense of relief.
Aroma, spice, a trail to follow
from the nose to the plate
to the stomach to the heart,
because food heals us,
spice heals us,
and so,
the aroma is just our beginning point,
the space where embodiment beckons us
and welcomes us home.
Day Four