Scent

The following “Haiku from Index Cards” try to make scents of the world.

scent of bush clover—

the toddler’s toe prints

drying first

             (written 2015, published 2020; see “Seven Flowers of Autumn” sequence)

scent of jasmine . . .

a butterfly’s shadow

over trail mud

             (written 1994, published 1997 on my old “Captain Haiku’s Secret Hideout” website; see “Thornewood Poems” sequence)

scent of narcissus—

the squeaky screen door swings shut

then opens again

             (written 1991, published 1992; “squeaky” added in 1993)

scent of wisteria—

she finishes translating

the birth certificate

             (written 2001, published 2009; see “Haiku on Buses 2007”)