Sandalwood & Cedar By Walden Quinn Caesar

Breathing in the smoke

To ground myself

Sometimes it's just 

Too hard to be

Around

Anybody

But this sandalwood

Has me feeling

A little more

Within my body

A bit more

Calm

And he kisses my cheek,

Fresh out of the shower,

I can smell the cedar

Almost as strong

He puts his arms around me

And I don't know 

If I'll ever truly know

Peace,

But I think

This is something 

Akin to it

And there's no one else 

I'd rather share

My space with

Here, in a little corner

Of our room

Breathing in

The sandalwood & cedar.

Walden Quinn Caesar is a nonbinary poet, novelist and author living in Southeast Indiana with their family. They have had a chapbook, novel and hybrid novel published by Alien Buddha Press, have a full length poetry collection due in November and just published a chapbook with Jude Miller. They've been published in numerous online and printed anthologies, and are the creator, editor and reviewer at Walden's Poetry & Reviews.