The Two Smells

There is a smell that gets the machinery whirring,

one like candy, sex, or soft, glittering lights

minimalist piano with a few rough throated strings

that makes the mind swoon momentarily

that frees sparks from the heartbeat's hammer,

but that is not the smell I'm interested in. 

I am interested in the smell that lulls the mind,

slow and full of life

like a big meandering cluster of stars

the feeling that comes early in the morning

when you're suspended between sleep and awake

when everything turns upside down and begins to float

in icy ecstasy underneath the smell of spring rain.

The buzz of the day's distractions may pull me from that place

but a part of my mind will always want to stay back

and only get lost.