Kneeling in the Autumn Garden

[tectak]

Kneeling in the Autumn Garden
Something in my chest that smells like my heart
twists and slides quietly
under the fallen leaves;
under the aspen leaves, the cherry leaves, the apple leaves
that lie still over the red stones.

Something in the air that smells like a cold hearth
sinks and pools idly
between the  waiting stones;
between the patient stones, the stubborn stones, the durable stones
that lie unburied on the steady ground.

I reach out my hand but do not touch
close to the chill earth
over the place where no warm rustle was;
over the lost leaves, the gold leaves, the heavy leaves
that lie absently on the enduring stones.

I bow my head but not to the weight of pain
downward to the unseen track beneath the leaves
downward to the unfelt rustle of warmth
downward to the unburied patience of the stones
and feel the cold and stubborn kindness of the turning earth.
Leah S.

Revision 1:
Something in my chest, that smells like my raw heart,
(OR) tastes like my old tears, (Pick one?)
twists and slides quietly
under the fallen leaves;
under the aspen leaves, the cherry leaves, the apple leaves,
that lie still over the red stones.

Something in the air, that smells like a cold hearth,
sinks and pools idly
between the  waiting stones;
between the patient stones, the stubborn stones, the constant stones,
that lie unburied on the steady ground.

I reach out my hand, but do not touch,
close to the chill earth;
over the place where no warm rustle is;
over the lost leaves, the gold leaves, the heavy leaves,
that lie unmoved on the enduring stones.

I bow my head, but not to the weight of pain,
downward to the unseen track beneath the leaves,
downward to the unfelt rustle of warmth,
downward to the unburied patience of the stones,
and feel the cold and stubborn kindness of the turning earth.

Revision 2

Something in my chest,
that smelled to me like my raw heart,
twisted and slid quietly
under the fallen leaves;
under the aspen leaves, the cherry leaves, the apple leaves,
that lay still on the red stones.

Something in the air,
that smelled to me like a cold hearth,
sank and pooled secretly
between the  waiting stones;
between the patient stones, the stubborn stones, the constant stones,
that lay still on the gray ground.

I reached out my hand, but did not touch,
close to the chill earth;
over the place where no warm rustle was;
over the lost leaves, the gold leaves, the dull leaves,
that lay dead on the plain stones.

I bowed my head, but not to the weight of pain,
bending to the unseen track beneath the leaves,
bending to the unfelt rustle of warmth,
bending to the unburied forbearance of the stones,
as I felt the cold and stubborn kindness of the turning earth.

Hi leah,
As I began I continue...this is me liking it. The only problem I ever had with this was the grammatical schoolboy howler which I tried to exemplify with the Music Hall joke.
It IS up to you to make clear that you REALLY meant that you could smell your heart, rather in the way you could smell a fart...or a hearth, for that matter. The problem was ALWAYS the use of the expression "smells LIKE" ...which by its form implies loosely that is the the VERB, to smell, that is LIKE an equivalent characteristic of  heart, fart or hearth. To tighten up this syntax I was asking you to clarify your intent by writing "something smells of", which is, in fact, what you meant.
It is pedantic, I know, but as a general rule you should be aware of the difference between "smells of my dog"  and "smells like my dog". Next time, maybe.
Very best,
tectak.
Yes, fresh offal smells fine to me, too.

This could be a geographical problem. I will make a bet you are not in the US. I honestly had to read the above several times before I figured out what you meant. I had to rephrase it thus: "Smelling this smell is like my heart." Here in the US, if I were to say, for example, "That scented candle smells of pumpkin pie," it would be considered rather stilted and pretentious. "Smells like" is common usage, and certainly is not "a grammatical schoolboy howler." In the US "smells like..." is equivalent to "smells as if it is...." "Smells of" would be used (in the US) literally to refer to a scent left behind on something such as clothing and would be used generally, as in: "You stink of skunk," or "This blanket smells of dog." Even then, we would be likely to use "smells like." When speaking in specific terms, we would use "smells like," as in "My shirt smells like my dog." Although your original comment did make me laugh, and now you have made me understand, I will never be able to say, "I smell like my dog" without having a mental image of myself sniffing someone in a potentially offensive manner. Don't know whether to thank you or hate you.

.....either way. Just don't ignore me
Best,
tectak in England where English is spoken ( though what that is, is another story!)
smell of
v.
1. To have an odor suggesting that something or someone is or has been present: The locker room smells of soap and sweat.
2. To be suggestive of something; have a tinge or hint of something: The dark cave smells of terror.
See also: of, smell
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.