They said that time would wash it away,
that keeping the tap open
would soften the stings of her almond scent
to hazy memories.
But I felt clueless and adrift
without her presence,
her support, her touch.
They said it's dangerous
to dwell in the perfumes of the past,
but I didn't get my strength
from letting her go.
Yes, I smelled her every day,
felt the stings,
let them burn their marks.
But I could still talk to her,
share each day's laughter and fear,
absorb and learn from her insights.
Others may solidify their memories like soap
to preserve its smell,
as making it blur and disintegrate
in the heated water of reminiscence
is -- indeed -- most dreadful.
But, every day,
I made her scent become mine,
my thoughts mirror hers,
her truths ease my fears
until I didn't realise anymore
she had dissolved
as my faint smell of almond.
Mar 8
Mar 8, 2026 at 6:42 PM UTC
They said that time would wash it away,
that keeping the tap open
would soften the stings of her almond scent
to hazy memories.
But I felt clueless and adrift
without her presence,
her support, her touch.
They said it's dangerous
to dwell in the perfumes of the past,
but I didn't get my strength
from letting her go.
Yes, I smelled her every day,
felt the stings,
let them burn their marks.
But I could still talk to her,
share each day's laughter and fear,
absorb and learn from her insights.
Others may solidify their memories like soap
to preserve its smell,
as making it blur and disintegrate
in the heated water of reminiscence
is -- indeed -- most dreadful.
But, every day,
I made her scent become mine,
my thoughts mirror hers,
her truths ease my fears
until I didn't realise anymore
she had dissolved
as my faint smell of almond.