Summer Smell
iba
by Mayeesha Gal
the smell of blooming jasmine is lifted up to my nose from the twisted plant outside our front door for a fleeting period in the beginning of summer time when it’s warm but breezy and forgetting about school is easy because all you have to do is breathe in the summer smell i splash boiling water over the teabag in an old mug my mother got at a garage sale i watch the water seep into the dried petals it takes a moment or two before the smell of steeping jasmine is lifted up to my nose i take the vial of perfume from the middle east decorated with fading gold paint and roll the cool tip onto the base of my neck and across the soft skin of my wrists i feel my body soaking it in as i bring my arm to my face so the smell of perfumed jasmine is lifted up to my nose i wander the clearance candle aisle of marshall’s in search of hardened wax that will bring me melted joy a small, opaque white jar reads “blessed” i breathe in deeply under the fluorescent lights as the smell of soft jasmine is lifted up to my nose and without hesitation i buy it isn’t jasmine the one? isn’t jasmine love? isn’t jasmine The Answer? isn’t jasmine?
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