This Fall I strolled down to the Toledo Museum of Art with pen and composition book anticipating that I would find some inspiration for a poem. How true this turned out to be! As inspiration goes, it is often not what I anticipated. In front of the museum, there was a high school homecoming gathering, perhaps prior to a dance or party, and students were dressed up and milling about as photoshoots took place on the regal steps and pleasant park-like grounds. My inspiration came as I experienced waft after waft of perfumes as people walked by. Even outside, these clouds of scents aggravated my asthma. Perfumes and commercial scents in all types of products have become a nemesis in recent years as my sensitivity to such chemicals has worsened. I am glad that at least I got a poem out of it.
As ma Taut Me: Owed to Presence Scent
A fall
Eve
Flaunting her wears
The perfume hung
My throat tight
Adam apple gulping
At the present
Of the fare gender
As ma taut me
Every breath is precious
And inspiration is scarce
Wading to exhale
Seeking just
To clear the air
Of presence scent
How ever untended
