Cedar Forests

Burning cedar is what I smell right after
a depressive episode.
Burning cedar after a forest fire -
the smell would stay with me
for days, eventually
dissipating.

The burning cedar though
is no longer present -
with words, with body language,
with your voice calling
out to me -
the cedar woods no longer
burn
for days,
no longer burning -

Instead,
growth,
buds rising,
a spring unlike which
I have known.

Burned and dead cedars,
giving life to the forest
anew -

all because of you.