the interior / 1953

the big Zenith television

smelled as though there was

something burning inside.

the multi-colored mints

within their cut-glass bowls

couldn’t mask the scent.

my sister’s room smelled like

the perfume counter at the swanky

Cherry & Webb department store.

from the hallway I spied her pal

Edwina Mello dab the nape of her neck

with the scent of "Tabu" and her wrists

and the back of her knees

and the interior walls of my brain.