Finding Old Perfume Bottle

This has gone
far enough—
stop the unpacking
I beg you

Put back the blue bottle
from down in the trunk
Can't you see yet

that “Evening in Paris”
was much better
in Kansas:

Great Bend
had dust storms
and great lovers
with grit in their teeth

Its women
were awesome—
they picked flowers
from high off the sun
to braid in their hair

I ask you again—
halt the unpacking
let love stay where it is
keep the cap on the bottle
slam the trunk lid hard

Notes

McDaniel, Wilma. (2001) Borrowed Coats. Hanging Loose Press, Brooklyn, New York.
Courtesy University of California, Merced Library. Copyright owned by the Regents of the University of California.