You like to be clean
But you get dirty without apology
Or resentment
You smell when you’ve been working
Of sweat and grease and trash
And sticky icky goo
And juice combined with broth
Not in a recipe but on your skin alone
A smell that’s nowhere else
But on you
And on me when you touch me
The way I smell as you walk to the shower
And to scrub it away
I pick up your clothes
Off the floor
And drink in the smell of honor
And exertion
And striving for integrity
It’s nowhere else in the world
But on your skin
And down your drain
And sometimes lingers
On me
But always in my mind.
