land of spice.

i like cinnamon.
i like it in my cappuccino.
and in my coffee
i like it in my tea.
i like the way it smells.
and i love how it's dry and spicy.
i love how we eat mom's cinnamon rolls
every Christmas morning
and i hate that i'm not gonna be there
this year.
i love how it looks like bark from a tree
before you grind it up.
and i like how you can buy sticks of it in america.

is there such thing as a cinnamon tree? or is it a bush?
whatever it is, however it comes,
i want to plant one in my yard, if i ever have a yard someday
or maybe i'll just put it in a pot that i take with me wherever i go
and then after a lot of years, i'll cut off a piece of the tree
and i'll suck on it a while and then i'll grind it up
i'll put it in my coffee and i'll offer some to my friends
and when they leave

i'll sip my coffee and i'll close my eyes
and i'll remember how every Christmas morning my mom and i
would get out the special, huge navy blue coffee mugs
which are minty green on the inside
and really more like bowls than mugs
and we'd fill them, half drip, half microwaved milk
and we'd practically gulp the coffee
as we pulled apart the cinnamon rolls
with our hands
and i don't even remember when we would open the gifts
because it was really about the people
and the coffee and the cinnamon rolls
the warmth, the smells, the love...

so, now i just need to find some cinnamon seeds.
i'll plant them in this little ceramic cup.
and i'll feel safe as i watch them grow.