ODE Poem: Forgotten Art, by Hayoon Joe

I open the door
stumble back in time
a scent peculiar yet familiar
tickles my nose
dusty
oily
sweet and sharp

There are one too many shades
of gray and turquoise, I pick up
a jade-shade pebble and raise
a wall, a fortress

I gather my rocks with a drop of paint on top
and glue it on a paper heart, then mom
saves it in a drawer and I forget

too many instances did I let my paint brush slip
abandoned this colorful canvas blossoming in
imagination, but where did that brush go now

This hour is bittersweet
I smell the chatter and laughter
the soft song of turpentine
the jumbled click clack of oil paint cans
the messy hums of
tangerine
cobalt
fuchsia

the back of my head tingles ever so
faintly