I smell my sickness
In the places it was made
No measure of scrubbing
Provides an escape from the reminder

It was tolerable
At first –
Until I could no longer leave it there
The scent followed me
Like a stranger or a shadow

At work it dragged itself
Through the office
At lunch it rested on the shoulder
Of the person next to me
It traveled the street to my house
On the length of a cat's tail

Quite unnerving
I smell my sickness
Of six weeks past
As if a reminder of things
Left undone
And rotting as they wait