rounding the corner :: a poem

rounding the corner
beside the curving white motion
of eucalyptus trees,
i am caught, suddenly
in the scent, mixed
of eucalyptus leaves and 
—is that bay?

it is a dreaming scent
i woke to it many 
mornings when many people
were so good to me
good to each other
though all of us flailed
in our reaching.

i look for the bay trees
cannot find them, there are 
bare branches, trunks
but i find the dry leaves on the 
ground, brown and crackling

i crush them in my hands
and breathe them in.

***

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