In those days when I didn’t know
how to live, a friend gave me
a cream of whipped roses
to smooth into my cheeks.
The scent helped me be
in my own skin.
Years later, it still comforts me,
scent of rose, palmarosa,
rose geranium.
It smells like resilience,
like generosity,
like love that continues to grow,
like a prayer carried by the wind.