i smell like a family there is drool on my shoulder blending into the fabric of my flannel where i held my friend’s baby and i kissed her head and her little face and told her i loved her and she giggled and burbled back at me and soaked my shirt in drool
there is dirt and grit clinging to my skin and my hair where i held my friend close after so many months of radio silence on both our parts and told him i loved him and i smell like him a lingering scent of earth and travel because for a nomad the road is their home but now he is so domestic and underneath his usual smells he smells like soap and clean clothes and while this is strange i am happy for him
i press myself into my friends an extended family ever expanding i try to take in as much of their scents as i can because i naively hope that i can drown out the smell of fear and sleepless nights and cold sweats that cling to me i do not want to smell like my nightmares
i let them permeate my skin and they stay with me even if they are miles and years away i keep little parts of them and they keep me going they keep me whole
because family doesn’t end with blood but it doesn’t start there either