Once

It is too hot and I am lying in the dying prairie grass, warning smoke on the wind, and something watching from the trees

I am an atheist in my childhood church. The old woman in front of me disapproves of my dress. I stare at her ragged fox stole’s empty eyes.

It took me a long time to appreciate the green astringent quality of this. I don’t really catch the vetiver, but I appreciate the botanical