Slide in and out
Through time and space
For a few moments
Smell the familiar aroma
Chicken bubbling in a pot
Strangely, this intoxicating fragrance
Emanates from my vegetarian kitchen
A bouquet similar to my mother’s soup
Dill and carrots bobbing to the surface
***
In those moments I feel the strength
In my old body
Charging up to my seventeen year old one
No aches
No regrets
No self-lies
Merely moments
Because I’ve passed through
The parallel, donned the mask
Of youth and strength
Only to lose it while slipping back
Frustratingly feeling like an
Unwanted understudy
Peering through the heavy red velvet curtain
Wanting to reprise the role
Now being played by a younger actor
***
I like the idea of genetic memory
Arising out of
Our ancestors’ thoughts
Seeing through their eyes
And one wonders if
It is past-life recollections
Or a glimpse into a parallel universe
Or actual memories
Entertaining us live
From our DNA double helix
Can someone tell me if genetic memory
Also applies to oneself?
Can a past memory from a half century ago
Resurface
In all its glorious
Beauty, health, happiness and
Optimism for the future?
***
If so, I must go again and again
What a lovely addiction
With the added attraction
Of aromas from childhood meals
When cholesterol and animal rights
Did not exist in the average mind
Next time I will order a chocolate eclair
And maybe a cigarette…
© 2015 Clarissa Simmens (ViataMaja)
