Let Me Tell You Now

When I am old

please use the hoarded and pristine bottle

-the lily of the valley lotion-

to ease the ache in my hands

and remind my feet

that I once could run, dance, and gambol all day.

~

Put a dab on my nose, please.

It calls to that young girl

captivated by high school copies

of out of date Seventeen magazines

scratching and sniffing the cardboard samples

deciding between Loves Baby Soft

and the sophistication of Jean Nate'.

Then discovering Muguet des Bois

and finding herself before she knew what lost was.

~

You'll find bottles thick with dust

survivors of purges past

tucked away in narrow shelves

faced with the mirror

that does me no more favors

and now returns fact not dreams and hopes.

Move past the rose scents

because roses now mean heartbreak and sorrow.

You'll see violet scents carefully hoarded

memories of Avon routes trudged

and pocket money squirreled away,

alongside Mother's Day nosegays gathered

from the edges of the city park.

~

It's the light and crisp lily-bell smell

that I'll crave; this I'm sure

so pass by the others in the liquid bouquet

and anoint the thin skin with valley-lilies.

Rub just enough to bring the glow

that once spoke of eagerness

and health, and banish the ache

that curls the fingers of hands

that are losing the grip on time.

~

Don't spare the drops

shake the bottles and use it all

what else will I do with it?

Why ever have I kept it so long,

but to perfume the air when

my spirit once again joins the

endless possibilities that young girl

once sensed and dreamt would be her own.

~

Let me meet eternity

bearing the aura of the Lily of the Woods.

Bespoke by dew and cold spring mornings

shot glasses crammed full haphazardly

with thin green stems

white precious bells pealing out promise

that the world returns to life

and the scent that beckons an adventurer

to lean close, then closer still

to find the hidden secrets and plunge

their hands into the spreading leaves

heeding the floral siren's call

to sit and rest a bit

before rejoining the journey.

~

Send me on that last journey

leaving the scent behind me

to show the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

No longer made, this bottle, similar to my teenage memories, now goes for $70-$300 online.

Comments welcome: What scent triggers your memories?