Scentsibility

We miss so many fragrances
nowadays,
Fragrances futilely masked
with soaps and scents,
dyes and bleaches,
chemicals and perfumes...

Like the smells of nature,
fumes of dirt
mixed with dew on grass,
the musty bark of trees,
enfolded by sweet moss...

Or the miriad scents
aroused on the human body.
The smell of skin caressed by
wind,
or sweat
dripping like strange fruit,
from workers and lovers alike...

These fragrances can never be bottled,
or drowned in cocktails of perfumes,
for they are the tantalizing odors
of life
itself.