Teleportation

Along with everyone else on the planet,

I was walking through the ridiculousness

Of Costco on a Sunday afternoon

When I was abruptly and wholly transported

To a crowded, cement-floored dining hall

In the northwesternmost tip 

Of Zambia.

I blinked, and it was Costco again

But that underlay of magic remained.

"Wait!" I called to my daughter, who was walking ahead, "there's something -"

And I followed my nose like a foxhound

Like a cartoon human chasing a stream through the air

Around a corner and down the aisle

Until I realized that the pink and yellow fragrance I was inhaling 

Was the scent of ripe guavas.

I had never had a guava until I lived there

And their fresh, seedy sweetness will forever invoke Sakeji for me.