The Best Perfume
If they could bottle
the perfect perfume
of the yard
on this July night-
it would be the only thing I’d wear.
Honeysuckle and milkweed chase
nicotiana
as they run on the air
to greet me.
And as I round the corner
petunias, lavender and geranium
rise to dance with fragrant pine.
Parisian perfumers come close
in their white laboratories.
But they miss the notes of ozone
heralding a sun shower approaching
and the whiff of fresh cut grass
arriving from the neighbor’s lawn.
And the subtle musk of wildlife that
crossed in early morning as they stole
the bright flower heads for breakfast.
A thousand unseen elements
create this custom blend-
the pure essence of summer.
