It comes to me
through autumn smoke,
the burning of damp leaves,
that pricks the eyes
and chokes the breath,
the funeral pall of summer’s death:
a hint of you drifts through the trees,
teasing on the goose-bump breeze,
the scent of Coty powder on your face,
always just a trace
of you in me.
Kim M. Russell, 18th July 2019
My response to Poets United Midweek Motif: Perfume
This midweek, Sanaa, the newest staff member of Poets United, is guest host with an aromatic motif. She brings us quotations from Marian Bendeth and Jean Claude Ellena, as well as delicately beautiful poems by Charmaine Chircop and Andrea Dietrich, as inspiration to write new poems about perfume.
Sanaa says the mere word brings to mind a thousand different things, as it’s steeped in romance, culture and history worldwide: perfume is thousands of years old, with evidence of the first perfumes dating back to Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and Cyprus. The English word “perfume” comes from the Latin per fume, meaning ‘through smoke’.
Some scents remind me of my mother, whose birthday it would have been on 5th Jul,y and who loved autumn as much as I do.
writing in north norfolk 
I love your use of the smoke motif – so evocative. How glamorous your mum was!
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Thank you, Sarah!
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good one….nice post….thanks for share
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Thank you for reading and commenting.
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Very touching and gorgeous poem Love every line Is that you and your mum on the photo Beautiful
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Thank you, Marja. It is my mum and I. She was beautiful. She had dementia and died just over two years ago. I miss her.
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Such an incredibly evocative poem and tribute to your mother, Kim ❤️ Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for your comments and an inspirational prompt, Sanaa. 🌹
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Very beautiful! And I too remember Coty powder on my Mum’s face!
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Thanks Rosemary. Coty was a popular brand back then. I’m a Clinique girl these days.
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Some scents do pull the memory string. Beautiful.
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Thank you, Sumana.
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This is such a sweet poem. I like the images you paint. When you recall the scent of Coty powder, I immediately has a sweet memory of my grandmother who raised me. Enjoyed this so much.
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Thank you, Myrna. I haven’t come across Coty in many years. Such an evocative scent.
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This reminds me of falls days with my grandfather. I immediately recalled the smell of burning leaves.
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I’m glad my poem had that effect on you, Lori.
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I love autumn too, my fave season and adore the scent of woodsmoke, which takes me back to teen years, walking home from school. Such poignant lines about your mother.
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Thank you, Sherry. For some reason, your comment went to spam, which has never happened before. I’m glad I found it!
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I notice on some blogs that when I send comments from my tablet instead of the computer, they dont always appear, maybe they are going to spam on others’ sites too.
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The same thing has happened with some of my comments, Sherry, although I seem to get plenty of spam that I really don’t want.
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Such a beautiful remembrance Kim. I love the Coty powder reference.
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Thank you, Linda.
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You do write fine poetry. Vivid and beautiful images you capture here. I faintly recall the scent of coty powder from one of my high school teachers. 😀
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Thank you so much, Khaya. Where did Coty go? I haven’t seem it on sale anywhere. 🙂
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After writing that, my curiosity go the better of me. I googled Coty face powder and discovered that Coty Airspun is being sold on Amazon! I’ve no idea if it smells the same as my mother’s though.
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It must have lost its popularity. 🙂
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Beautiful, just beautiful Kim! Imagine how such complex emotion and memory can be triggered by a simple sensory cue: coty powder. Lovely poem…
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Thank you so much Panchali.
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Intriguing. When i got to Coty powder i knew it was a memory of your mother. Nice one
Much❤🕊❤love
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Thank you, Gillena. 🙂
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kaykuala
always just a trace
of you in me.
It is such a great feeling when memories of Mom is brought back through whiffs of Coty. Lovely take Kim!
Hank
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Thank you, Hank.
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