Juniper

(I know this is maybe more of a story than a poem, but I meant it as a poem, so hopefully it's close enough. This is about when I was happiest.)

The scent still stuns her when she comes across it
It takes her back, eight years and three months to the day.
It's a bittersweet reunion with her memories.
One week of pure bliss,
When life was simple for a while
When the biggest worry was if the sky would be as blue as the day before
It always was.
The alfalfa fields made her happy.
They made the deer happy, too.
She loved standing on the porch and looking out at the whirring sprinklers
She used to whisper the world "alfalfa" to herself and giggle.
She liked the pine trees and the wide open spaces.
She liked the pastures, with all the cows.
She used to moo right back at them.
Her favorite place to go was down by the river.
She'd sing to herself and throw pebbles,
then wade through the stream to put them back in the right spot.
She loved the old pulley swing that pulled her across the water,
Over to the forest where she could spot porcupine quills and beaverteeth marks on the trees.
She loved the campfires and burnt marshmellows.
She got s'mores all over her face every time.
She swam until she looked like a prune and ran home in her bathing suit.
She played volleyball until the stars came out
And learned all about Orion and how to find his belt.
And that smell...she always knew she was home.
She was disappointed when she found out it was only juniper
And not simply something magical in the air.
The horizon couldn't get any wider,
Surrounded by mountains on three sides
Three sisters, standing tall and proud.
She laughed at the names, I remember.
They were so beautiful. So cliched. So right.
Faith, hope, and charity.
Who knew the future would have to hold so much of each?
But the future never crossed her mind.
All she saw were her own size two sneakers pounding down the pavement
All she felt was a bubbling laugh.
She laughed like there was no tomorrow.
When she was there, there was no tomorrow.
There was only today.

~Frances~