Exotic Scent

On a warm autumn evening, if I shut both eyes
And breathe the smell of heat from your warm breast,
I see unfolding a long happy coast
That endless sun has burnt into a daze;

An island state of sloth, where nature grows
The strangest trees, and fruits of delicate taste;
Where men are lean and strong, and women rest
Their eyes on one with startling openess.

Following your smell toward this charming zone,
I see a harbour full of masts and sails
Still shaken from oceans waves and winds.

And then the scent of verdant tamarinds
Comes wafting to my nostrils,
Mixed with the shanties of the deep-sea men.

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