The air went crisp then cold

The air went crisp, then cold,

a blue dusk settling in.

And then that scent,

a sudden puff,

from the neighbor's house,

a white plastic snout

spitting out

someone else's clean.

Heavy, sweet,

like sun-dried sheets

folded warm from the machine.

A cloud of soap and cotton,

a soft, humid fist

punching the cold.

It hung there,

a moment,

then frayed into nothing.

Just the damp concrete,

my own breath,

and the quiet knowing

of a warmth not mine.