Sensing

I smell the fresh baked chocolate cupcakes and the sugary icing that will go on top. I smell your perfume, White Diamonds, mixing with the clear nail polish that you would put on your nails.

I can see the yellow forsythia bush blooming in the golden rays of sunlight streaming through the newly forming leaves of the maple tree. I see the ripples on the creek's surface as a fish jumped out to catch its meal. I see all the love your friends send in the mail.

I hear the splash as the fish makes contact with water. I hear the deer trampling the brush on the other side of the creek. I can hear the the splash of the water of the pool as I'm pulled back to the past.

I taste the chlorine of the water as you teach me to swim the first time. I taste the sweet meadow tea that you cut and brewed. I taste the the home cooking and how being with you made me feel free.

I run my fingers through your blanket that I still have. The fleece roughened by repeated washing. I feel the chill from your bracelet as it touches my skin

All those things remind me that even though you are not here with me. You are not gone.