She smells like old books and basil
She tastes like incense and peppermint.
She breathes Kabalevsky and Tolstoy
She sees beyond the fear and now.
She is a sun, fiery joy and tender glow.
She is Nabokov's Lolita, Poe's Lenore, Shakespeare's Juliet.
Muse, Calypso, Athena
Glistening eyes and biting tongue.
All this in only one girl, one woman
who tastes of incense and peppermint.