Thinking about a thought

A memory

Triggered by a scent

Breathe in and remember

Yeah yeah most of us know 

From the old science magazine or something like that

But it seems like a deeper part of the mind

than a fact on why I always remember, 

Why I have to remember

Like how I don’t want to think about the scent of freshly sharpened

Pencils, and the disappointed, disgruntled, dagger stare of that

One teacher I wanted to please

 How I wince

Every time I get a whiff of shotgun smoke

There was a perfect chance at the trophy buck

But jerked the gun

Or remember the time 

We lost to the number one team in the 

Conference in the last minute

Sweaty stench burning my nostrils

As I walked off the field

Tell me those painful thoughts

That frustration or longing to have a do-over

Has to be more than an article about the thalamus or the 

Olfactory bulb, in a Scientific American 

That might be the world’s explanation but

It can’t take away that unstoppable,

Depressing memory

All from breathing in the scents of the world

Like when the northern fresh air

Meets my nostrils

But then remember the time

I went alone on the kayak

To the middle of the lake with no life jacket

Parents were furious

Or just painful memories

The moment of a passing aroma

Probably a passing stranger

But instantly overcome with memory of a

Past friend, who stopped being a friend

Never spoke to me again, never knowing why

The musty smell of an old barn

Right before plunging my foot

Into a rusty nail 

Jabbing out of the rotting floorboards

Or the fragrant scent of perfume

Reminding me of my sweet old grandma

Even though 

I will never feel her embrace again

Those thoughts are more than a fact

It's part of the soul now

Forever in the heart

How the faintest thing can trigger it

How taking a breath

A moment to stop and smell the flowers

Can suddenly slam you back

Into a bitter memory