Dear Poets,

Welcome to Tuesday Poetics. This is Gina, guest hosting at dVerse today.

I would like you to think of a smell that evokes the deepest feeling of safety for you. It could be the aroma of a certain food from your childhood, coffee from your favourite cafe, the smell of a freshly mowed lawn or even the musty smell of grandma’s closet.

Let’s read what some poets say about comfort smells:

SMELLS – by CHRISTOPHER MORLEY

WHY is it that the poet tells
So little of the sense of smell?
These are the odours I love well.

The smell of coffee freshly ground;
Or rich plum pudding, holly crowned;
Or onions fried and deeply browned.

The fragrance of a fumy pipe;
The smell of apples, newly ripe;
And printer’s ink on leaden type.

Woods by moonlight in September
Breathe most sweet, and I remember
Many a smoky camp-fire ember.

Camphor, turpentine, and tea,
The balsam of a Christmas tree,
These are whiffs of gramarye. . .
A ship smells best of all to me!

 

Smells Like Home! – Poem by Eric Cockrell

windows wet,
fog over.
pale light,
seeps through.
spirit takes flesh,
flesh stays hungry.
fingertip prayers,
small moments eternal.
hand on the plow,
your earth smells
like home!

For me, it is the smell of old books that take me to that safe place, standing between the bookshelves of an old library, sitting on the floor of a used book shop, here is where I feel safe, a smell I associate with feeling embraced by warmth and love.

I read this article that said old books smell like chocolate and coffee.  Would those be some of the smells that give you a sense of comfort and safety?

Today I ask that you write a poem about a smell that takes you to a time when you would just collapse into a safe place especially when the world was getting too rough and tough on you. Close your eyes for a moment, blot out all the sounds and just inhale a memory. Then write your poetry, write a poem that has smell as a safe memory. What’s your comfort smell? Tell me.

Once you have written your poem, post in on your blog then link it back to Mr Linky here. Be sure to come back and read the others poets’ contributions. Most of all I hope you have lots of fun thinking and writing about your comfort smells!

 

About our guest blogger:   Living on the equator, in hot and humid Malaysia but my heart longs for snow. I work in healthcare, in the field of cancer treatment; the human heart and its resilience is my daily inspiration. I like long walks and hiking deep into the forest on my days off from work. My first love is writing stories but I have discovered writing poetry has given me a different form of expression. Coffee and cake make me very happy! I blog at https://alifelesslivedblog.wordpress.com/