The January 21st prompt in The Daily Poet, by Kelli Russell Agodon and Martha Silano, is to ‘focus on taste, hearing, scent, and touch’ instead of on sight. I diverged from the prompt after that, going back to a childhood memory instead of noting things throughout my day…

The sweet smell of pipe tobacco
reminds me of my grandfather
and afternoons spent
watching roller derby on TV

I’d watch him open the Sir Walter Raleigh
pack the pipe, light it, and draw
the dull clicking of dentures
followed by small clouds of smoke

I don’t encounter that much anymore
(our rituals are different now)
but it never fails to take me back
I’m five years old again

(21 January 2015)