A Walk in the Woods

An aroma flowed into my nostrils

I followed the enticing smell

The songbirds called to out

Encouraging me to take a different path

My nose overruled my ears and I walked on

I saw the cottage as the path curved

Tulips and daffodils decorated the yard

Vibrant yellows and reds against an adobe façade

The pie sat on the windowsill, cooling in the spring air

Saliva on my tongue, drooling, longing for a taste

A calico cat with it primordial pouch swaying, appeared

It greeted me with a meow and rubbed against my legs

I bent over and brushed my fingertips over its head

It purred as I stroked the soft spot, the M, of its forehead

My mouth watered again as the apple pie teased my nose

Longing for a slice of the succulent fruit beneath a lattice crust

I returned to the path and reached into my rucksack

The polished red apple was a meager substitute for my craving

My teeth crunched through its skin into the sweet white meat

I closed my eyes and imagined how this fruit would taste

If baked in a pie left to cool on a sill of a forest cottage