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Grammar

I read Grammar by Tony Hoagland many years ago and it was interesting to revisit the lines that I loved then to see how more poignance the years had added to them.
we've all tried to start a fire,
and one day maybe it will blaze up on its own.
In the meantime, she is the one today among us
most able to bear the idea of her own beauty,
and when we see it, what we do is natural:
we take our burned hands
out of our pockets,
and clap.
Back then I had appreciated the context of Maxine returning after a weekend with her boyfriend. Reading this today made me think  about some other ways a woman can be emanating the "perfume of fermenting joy". A grandmother basking in the sun with her grandkids, the loves and grand passions of her life behind her, a life well lived, many dreams fulfilled - that should smell like "fermenting joy" too.
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