what does summer smell like?
like soaking baths in the sea,
splashing each other
with the scorching sun in our faces;
like stolen kisses
under the open showers,
scrubbing the salt off of each other.

what does summer smell like?
like the after-sun lotion on my hands
as I rub your sunburnt back in the evening
(your skin was always too pale for here);
like sweat and sea and shower water
mixing together and dripping on the floor
as we get off each other and in the bathtub.

what does summer smell like?
like bergamot, lemons, oranges;
your grandma’s limoncello,
my grandma’s fresh tomatoes;
like jasmine blooming in the night
in the pouring august rain,
as we hide together under the fig tree.

what does summer smell like?
like my ice cream and your popsicle
we bought with stolen change,
chocolate and strawberry
mixing on our tongues;
like sand burning our feet and skin
as we lie on the beach.

what does summer smell like?
like forest fires and august hailstorm,
with scylla at our left
and molten lava at our right;
like secret bonfires, seaside dates,
three stargazers at the sky,
cementing our love together
in the quiet dead of the night.

— summer scents, m.g.t.