Brown Bird XVIII

I found your teddy bear today…still dirty…still smelled like you. I took a deep breath and loved deeply. Everyone else always thought it was gross…not to me. To me it was just another little thing that made you—you. I held it, afraid to put it down. I didn’t want it to get messed up, I didn’t want to wash it. I wandered looking for a safe place, a place that wouldn’t poison the smell or risk a liquid. I didn’t have any bags. My back pack has that back pack smell to it. I found a cotton cloth, clean, tucked in a box, in your room. Gently, I wrapped it up inside and tucked it into a box swearing to keep it safe…so on bad days…like today…for just a moment I can remember the way you smelled. Of calm, and earth.