aromatic memory

what was it in their hair
that enveloped the heart,
what was it that they must have
doused themselves in
that seared a scar on the inside of
the mind,
like some tribal tattoo,
like some stabbing blade
diving down with all the purpose in
the world---
a blade shaped triangular,
so as to leave a hole that never
heals?
what hold this olfactory memory
has on us,
when two decades later,
walking innocently in a store,
that same scent s/he wore
invades our lives,
flipping us upside down,
tearing us all up inside again &
leaving us shaking in the corner
with hopes that it will leave us
alone,
at least for a few years.