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by Todd Portnowitz I hung the lavender she bought on the metal shutters in the back room of her apartment with rubber bands and paperclips. I wasn’t sure if I should trim their grassy roots— but that was hours ago, the moon’s up now and, in its light, their silhouettes look like six witch’s brooms. She’s asleep in the other room, drunk after a party. I like the smell of lavender somewhat more than I like the smell of jasmine, which is not at all, and I’ve hung at least sixty stems, and once they’ve dried the stems can last for years. There’s more cinnamon to it than I remember and an earthiness—neither of which remains in the bars of soap and monogrammed sachets in the gift shop at Lavender by the Bay, where she opened her wallet, resolving, perhaps, to start, from that moment forward, making home feel more like home.  photo by Janet L. Roth Todd Portnowitz is recipient of the 2015 Raiziss/de Palchi Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets. His translation of Paolo Valesio's Midnight in Spoleto is forthcoming with Fomite Press, and his translation of Nicola Gardini's Viva il latino with Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. He lives and works in New York, where he co-hosts the writer-translator reading series, Us&Them. Learn more about Todd at: www.toddportnowitz.com.
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