Trust the toast and the Aqua Velva Man


There's a sense I should rely on

my useful ability to sniff

our noses can teach us much

if we would just take a whiff


The messages in certain smells 

both the vile and very nice

I like how nice ones linger on

while nasties are gone in a thrice


But on the subject of trusting

our noses always know

who can and who can't be 

and to me will always show


when I met my forever him

he was a lovely scented bloke 

of minty breath and Aqua Velva 

and leathery tobacco smoke


I've an addiction to smelling

and to that I must fess up

I study men's odors and read them

like tea leaves in a cup


I judge a man by his fragrance

can't help this kneejerk habit 

it's not his cologne nor perfume

those just confuse or disquise it


there is a je ne sais quoi in

how the air smells around him

I can't explain how nor why 

it's vague but not a whim


Some smell in ways that feel

like a cozy, safe protector

of campfire, printer's ink or toast

or a Super 8 movie projector 


And then some smell of things 

that hit memory blindside

like Old Spice or Basic H

And I want to run and hide


it sounds superstitious, I know

my horoscope of smells

but my nose is uncannily

accurate about what it foretells


morning coffee and Coast soap

and his Aqua Velva blue

Say he's kindly and cares

if not he'll reek of that too


it's not that they stink exactly 

but it's potent just the same

it jars me to places most scary

too scary to give a name


bullies give off in their smells

a loud danger pheromone

warning me to get out

and leave them very much alone


like a snake's marking tells

if he sports red against black

he's not a safe fellow 

you should stay away from Jack


My ken goes below human sense

this instinctive alarm in me

I  guess like a dog I'm wired 

when smell-sirens sound to flee


Then some smells misled me 

Made me think I could trust 

Jean Nate and boiled dinner

found too late they were bust


I didn't heed them before 

much to my hurt and dismay

I didn't run when I should have 

I was taught to heel and stay


But I'm learning to scent read 

the writing on the wall

to get to safer high ground 

before the levies fall


The safe scents were there

But I didn't trust what I should

not that I even knew how

or that I actually could


So I'm learning to smell

peace in the coffee can 

to trust the toast and toothpaste

and the Aqua Velva Man 






 





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