Mock Orange Reboot

Mock Orange Reboot
(With a big nod to Louise Glück,
whose poem “Mock Orange” can be found here.)

Louise Glück hates
mock orange:
the scent reminds her of sex
(with a man),
how desire takes hold,
takes over.
How the feeling after –
sober distance, separation –
gives the lie to
her longing for union.

I too understand
the strange power
the force
of mock orange:
sweet scent
sweeping over
as you open the door,
step onto the porch.

It lasts a few days
and is past;
blossoms wither
and die.
But during those days
I am blissful,
dizzy with longing.

Mock orange for me is a promise
of pounding heart and desire,
olfactory token
of union, reunion,
evoking emotion even in age.

It comforts to know
that the scent of mock orange
will repeat in new bloom
every year,
even when I’m not around
to inhale it.