Cycling

[beaufort]

Version 2 (a nod to Milo)

Gone two days, but the skunk
stench sticks to the curb,
splashes of bronze I would be tempted to leave out this line - the stench sticking to the curb implies its tenacity

where road, animal,
and darkness fused
in a driver's headlamps. perhaps they could fuse somewhere other than in headlamps?

When an odor holds
faster than gravestones,
not even a cross makes the dead

more present, wisped into the vents
of bicycle helmets, the cracked
windows of alley traffic.

It takes a block to remove
the film of memory from each breath;
what was inhaled

already a part of the blood
used to fuel the lungs again
to pump the heart once more.

--------------------- thanks for the read! I think this is well done and clear. I found the frequent stanza breaks a bit off-putting, but that may just be me. Best.
V. 1


Gone two days, but the skunk
stench keeps to the curb,
swimming in splashes of bronze

where road, animal,
and darkness fused
in a driver's headlamps.

When an odor holds
faster than gravestones,
not even a cross makes the dead

more present, wisped into the vents
of bicycle helmets, the cracked
windows of alley traffic.

It takes a block to remove
the film of memory from each breath;
what was inhaled

already a part of the blood
used to fuel the lungs again
to pump the heart once more.