kamiyama

i wish you could smell how it is here 

the air

is heavy 

and thick with steam

rising 

off the pavements 

salt, metal, and warm earth.

and on occasion, when the wind shifts, gardenias and warm wisteria trail to remind me of your back door step.

when nothing was too much,

and everything was beautiful.

      and we would sit 

      watching the mist move through

      the cedars

      and wonder how to return what

      the water gave us.