If souls have a scent
what will mine be?
Will it smell of lavender
like clean laundry
or will it smell fetid
like a corpse flower?
how badly have my sins
spoiled the brand new smell
of my newborn soul?
I am curious.
One can hide behind good works
or the semblance of the good life
as defined by the world
but the scent –
the scent betrays
what rots in hidden places.
© 2017, poem and photograph, Imelda Santore
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I’ve seen those corpse followers before at the botanic garden, but was not present when they opened for pollination (perhaps thankfully). I like how your poem was split by this line: “I am curious.”
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What an interesting concept. I have never before wondered about how a soul might smell, but I am wondering now! Do you suppose that truly good works cannot somehow wash a soul cleaner? Or maybe a heroic sacrifice of a person’s life for another completely bleaches it clean? What “nose” do we use to ascertain the scent of another’s soul and how do we know if it’s correct? Thanks for giving me some new things to ponder, and thank you for sharing this with us this month. 🙂
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