Some Call It “Fragrance”…

humor, poetry 1 Minute

What’s that acrid, dreadful odor?
A decaying animal within our walls?

That’s happened once or thrice—
A facet of our coexistence 

In a world where our presence
Sometimes unsettles the local fauna

But no; this scent is different:

So pungent it crosses
The nausea threshold

Casting its power
Just feet from where we dine

We set forth on a sniffer’s journey
Visiting the usual suspects—

Refrigerator, waste receptacle…

We open our back door
The night air earns an A.

Then we inch toward that anomaly:

Our aging dracaena, cut down over the years
To a stubble of its former self

We’d noted with pleasure a new shoot
Ascending with first-ever blossoms

For a week we’d smiled at this new growth—
A sign of welcome possibilities to our aging selves

But as we neared, the stench overwhelmed–

Unmistakably,
Our floral future: a stink bomb on stalk

The google consult IDs dracaena fragrans,
“Will flower indoors once a year—“

More often when outside.

Though ours has graced both locales for decades
And never behaved thus before…

This bounty occurs, one expert says,

“If you treat it very well..a bold ascent specimen
with multiple crowns, small spray of fragrant white flowers.”

As “fragrant” was not our descriptor of choice,
We pruned our old friend, 

With hope lovely leaves will overgrow the surgical site.

And we are left to ponder
This welcome/unwelcome event

Nature confounds
Surprises abound.

Image courtesy of wikimedia.commons.org

Annie

Published by annieasksyou

I've been a nonfiction writer for many years, exploring diverse topics that pique my curiosity, as noted in my first blog posting (Greetings!). I'm seeking dialogue with others committed to joining me in this exploration, sharing my conviction that different views can be exchanged in a respectful, civil discourse where we can learn from one another and be agreeable, even when we disagree. These postings depend for their enrichment on your participation: your ideas, insights, knowledge, opinions, and personal stories.

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16 thoughts on “Some Call It “Fragrance”…”

  7. All well here—weird time as virus surging. Family Zoom Thanksgiving. Would we ever have believed such a time when we were in Dwight Morrow!

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