the interior / 1956

there seemed to be something burning

inside the big Zenith television.

and from the doilies the multi-

colored mints within their cut-glass

dishes couldn’t mask the acrid 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

dabbing the slopes of her neck

with the scent of "Tabu" and her wrists

and the back of her knees

and the interior walls of my brain.