Grampa

I smelled a pipe yesterday

and wondered if you traveled with the wind.

I remembered your flappy hands

and rippling folds of soft dark skin.

Your chuckle and suck

between rings of smoke.

"Hey boss" you always used to say

making everyone feel big.

But no one was as grand as you.

Your glasses were three sizes too big

for your narrow, sallow face,

especially near the end.

But how their dark amber rims

magnified your soft oval eyes.

And always made me feel

like I was the center of the world

every time you gazed upon me.

Your pipe's part of the reason

you're no longer here.

But its rings will forever surround me

like scented wind.