Photo Tony Fitzpatrick

SPICE HERB

Invoke memories

A night by the fire

Tinge of smoke

In the air

Fresh smoke

Not stale

A summer garden

An herb patch

Inviting a stroke

Of fingers

Pungent oil

On leaves

Some store

The heat

Of the sun

And release

A whole season

At once

Others spread

Weeks or months

Onto the palate

In the heat

Of the day

Fragrances compete

With each other

For our attention

They draw

All manner

Of life to them

The insect remembers

The meal of its

Ancestors

As do we

Dinner hurries

Toward us

Without us

Knowing

Through wafting

Scent