Today my fingers

Today my fingers 
smelled like Omani halwa 
after I ate halwa from Grand Sweets.
And I wanted that beautiful scent to stay on 
-forever-
because it made me remember.

But then I decided;
sweet grease on my laptop’s keyboard 
phone’s keypad 
shiny oily patches on my pen the paper 
-everywhere-
wasn’t a good idea. 

So I took the soap 
went to the bathroom 
and washed it all off,
until
there wasn’t any scent.
 
And the awful finality 
of adulthood and times past 
settled over me 
like a stifling shroud.