New Car Smell

When love's touch was new
It was a treasure that came for a while,
Like puppy's breath or new fallen snow,
When every touch was limned in fire
And every conversation an orchestrated symphony,
When I would drink your spirit
And live upon your sweetened kisses.
Then was when you heard what I said
And we slid our thoughts together into one note.
Then was when you pondered my emotions
And caressed my heart with fingertips dipped in love.
Then was when words were always tempered with reverence
And the sharpest disagreements dissolved like sugary candies.
"Love lasts forever," you're not the first to say--
So intense was your gale
Beating upon the doors and rattling the windows--
"Love need never change;
It's the people who decide not fate nor time."
That was when our love was new.
Yet no matter how clean you keep it,
No matter your energy and fervor
Nor good intentions of bottling it up forever--
The magic of that new car smell always fades away.

(c)Lisa Kendrick                    2009

published in Skipping Stones, Vol VI

Mindworm Press, Chesapeake, VA