Lover’s Legacy
I bury my face in your shirt
Smelling your cologne
Still lingering on the fabric
Laundered clean since then
Yet you are there touching my senses
The ritual almost tantric
Coffee brewing in the pot
Kitchen filled with a glorious aroma
Morning smells familiar of you
Fresh baked bread and soft butter
Roses picked fresh from the garden
Sweet and fragrant still covered in dew
If love had a scent
It would bear your name
Your essence is omnipresent
Each room I wander into
Provoking memories of you
But you are now absent
As always lost in my reverie
Dreaming of what we once had
and wondering why it went wrong
Did I become invisible by loving you
And you could no longer see me
Or did you never quite belong
Christine Bolton – Poetry for Healing ©
In response to Gina’s Challenge – Comfort Smell – at D’Verse Poets
Poetry For Healing 
There is nothing that pull us back into the past as the scents that are left… sometimes it can be painful, but sorrow can be soothing as well.
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Isn’t that true? Gina’s poem about her mother was so incredibly beautiful and it reminded me of my mother. I needed to go in another direction, equally painful, but cathartic. Thanks for reading 🙂
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Nice lines: “If love had a scent
It would bear your name”
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Thank you Frank 😌
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Such a beautiful expression of love … until lastly left to the wondering. Touching words.
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Thank you so much Beverly 🙂
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everything in your poem speaks of a place you can still feel safe about, even though it leaves you wondering about what could have been that does not take away from the safety it gave you before. the smell of him on that shirt will still linger Christine, I know this so achingly well. If I had not written about my mother and her scents, I would have done something just like this. but this is a much too painful smell to remember though in an odd way when I am feeling hurt and confused, he is the first smell that comes to mind. i love your poem so much. your heart surfaces in every line, I cannot pick a favourite line, they are all so precious. thank you for writing and sharing.
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Dear Gina, you are so kind. When I read your wonderful poem about your mother and how you remember moments with her through smell, I started writing furiously about my mother! Your words were such inspiration and I am sure everyone who read it felt the same. The imagery in your poem was exquisite 💕. I went a different route which I know resonates with many of us on different levels.
Thank you as always for your encouragement. 🙂
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the feeling is very much reciprocated today Christine. it was really quite hard to continue reading all the other poems after I read yours here, the feelings you evoked for me were deeply emotional. thank you for your amazing writing. you could always post a second poem my dear, the one abut your mum, a spectrum of your thoughts!
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The scents of the loved ones certainly brings back happy as well as sad memories. Too bad it didn’t work out at the end. Thanks for joining in.
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Thank you Grace 🙂
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Oh, you had me longing for that connection – that domestic bliss – and then…it was gone.
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Oh thanks V.J. I’m so happy I connected with you! 🙂. Unfortunately life (love) is not always kind. Thanks for reading.
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This is so beautifully evocative Christine, a smell imprinted on soul gorever.
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Thank you my friend 🙂
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Oh those scents linger, don’t they, Christine, and we keep going back for more, sipping at the memories. I love the romantic overtones and the sad undertones of the lines:
‘If love had a scent
It would bear your name
Your essence is omnipresent’.
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Thank you for reading Kim. Just hearing a song can put us in the same place. Our senses are quite amazing aren’t they?
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“If love had a scent
It would bear your name” ~> These lines just made me pause at the simple beauty of them.
I enjoyed your poem, it really brought so many scents and smells to me, so you absolutely nailed the prompt! Was the narrator speaking about a parent or a lover, though? I wasn’t sure.
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Thank you for your kind words Jade 🙂
It was definitely Lover by way of the title and use of the word tantric in the poem.
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Oh! Of course, I’m sorry, I completely overlooked the title.
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Good observation though. That kind of feedback is good as it can keep us on track!
Thanks again 🙂
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A powerful legacy, indeed!
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Thank you! I appreciate that you read it and commented. 🙂💕
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