Friday, May 13, 2011

Scent of a memory

Did you ever discover something long forgotten that reminds you of your past?

I hold in the palm of my hand
a miniature, glass, lavender,
cosmetic jar, tucked for years
in a corner of the medicine chest.
I caress the smoothness of what once was
and the roughness of back then.
Hesitant to discover ancient heartaches,
I slowly uncap twenty-five years
of bottled up memories and release
the fragrance, pleasure-pain.
One whiff and I realize,
I should have tossed this decorative jar years ago.

6 comments:

Lynn said...

That was an amazing piece.

Dianna said...

Beautiful, Linda. Sorry again that I missed your poetry reading tonight. I heard it went great and that you had a crowd!

Tammy said...

This poem itself is like unbottling memories, pleasure-pain fragrance and all! A couple of months ago I found my grandmother's dish pattern in a store and couldn't resist buying two place settings. Empty or not, every time I look at them, they feed my soul.

Peggy Frezon said...

Oh, how smells can evoke memories. Great poem!

Anonymous said...

Yes, I have!

Pat Wahler said...

You went in a different direction than I thought you were heading with that one. Loved it!

Pat
www.critteralley.blogspot.com