Monday 4 August 2008

Rainy Scents

The scent of earth after rain
still takes me back

to the aftermath of storm
clean moist warmth

the pervading odours of rotten mangoes
with undertones of chicken dirt

washed away.

Here there are no mangoes
but as I walk under still dripping leaves

I smell lime flowers
before I see the lime trees.




smells for Read Write Poem

22 comments:

anthonynorth said...

Nature always smells so good after a storm.

Anonymous said...

I love the smells and the images. By the way, the Italian Poet went quiet on me. Sorry I didn't get the untranslated version for you.

Anonymous said...

Your pacing here allows the reader to be hit with the scent of lime flowers just as the speaker is. beautiful.

Raven's Wing Poetry said...

Nice. I love your connecting with past and present through smell in this piece.

Noah the Great said...

Ooh! Great!

Anonymous said...

In a tropical countrical like mine, I get to smell mangoes, Lime and lot more. Your poem evoked all those for me.

yellowed piece of paper

polona said...

love the poem... and it made me think how many different scents rain can bring...

Crafty Green Poet said...

anthony - doesn't it just!
maekitso - thanks. Sorry the italian poet went quiet on you, I love reading poetry in Italian...
Nathan, raven's wing, noah - thanks
gautami - I think your lime trees are different from ours...
polona - I know there are so many scents in the rain...

d. moll, l.ac. said...

Rain is to scents what dusk is to colors......

Anonymous said...

I just adore the final lines:

"I smell lime flowers
before I see the lime trees."

Marvelous!

holly said...

I can smell it!
I think my favorite line is "with undertones of chicken dirt"...such a great juxtaposition with the rest of the smells.
Beautiful poem. I am linking your site to mine.

Anonymous said...

Better than Sprite! Your poem made my sense of smell come alive. I can breathe in the words through the wires. Really good!

Unknown said...

I like the last two lines. It just rained here and I'm trying to figure out what it smells like. I'm sure my cat knows if only she could tell me.

Odessa said...

oh, what a lovely poem. i love all the smells you presented here. especially "the scent of earth after rain".

mareymercy said...

Love the last few lines.

Anonymous said...

i too chose rain smells...you did a wonderful job with this..i could smell it in the air!

jorc
empty garden

jem said...

Those last two lines are so powerful. I rely on my sense of smell a lot for comfort and inspiration. I always love smelling the sea well before I can see or hear it!

mansuetude said...

this evokes so much--the rain, the smells it raises up, the feeling of a woman standing in time, alert, awake. A cleansing. Thanks.

Jessica said...

I love the last two lines as well, as they are pretty brilliant. But I also really love the rotten mangoes and the chicken dirt. Great, unusual details.

Anonymous said...

I love all the specific smells, especially rotten mangoes, and the visual line of

"washed away."

standing alone like that.

Anonymous said...

Rotten mangoes and rain -- right outside my window. :)

You manipulated the scents and my senses well as this poem progressed. Nicely done.

Mine is here: The Essence of You

Writing on Board said...

This poem smells lovely, Juliet. Thank you.