Stink Think
Scotch broom makes me nauseous. Roses make me sneeze.
I abhor the scent of jasmine on an evening breeze.
Room deodorants should be banned, as should scented candles.
I’d rather smell my brother’s sneakers or a vagrant’s sandals.
Now that we want each thing to smell like something it is not,
there’s a different odor on everything we’ve got.
There’s perfume in detergent, in dryer tabs and soap.
Scented toilet paper makes we want to mope.
Unscented’s getting almost impossible to find.
It leaves allergic folks like me in a real tight bind.
Gardenia in my hand lotion or chamomile or peach.
Hairsprays smell as fresh as air or like a summer beach.
Floor cleaners smell like forests of freshly gathered pine,
as though without this pungent scent our floors would smell like swine!
These odors leave me gasping and running for some air.
Their vapors make my eyes run, causing much despair.
I do not want my table waxed with lemon or “fresh scent.”
I believe that everything should smell as nature meant.
I’ve done a lot of research, and I’m fairly sure
that perfumes out-stink everything they’re meant to obscure!
The prompt today was fragrance. I found at least five old poems about fragrances and odors. Here’s another one that goes waaaay back. Image of Scotch Broom from the internet.

I worked with a guy who was very sensitive to odors and the company had to set up a plastic screened off area for him to do his work in. All the ladies hated him because he made weird faces when he smelled their perfume.
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I lived in a town where there was a ban against fragrances in the local library. If you had perfume on you were asked to leave.
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In general, I agree. Yet natural odours have little effect on me other than the memories of previous smells. I adore roses, though tea roses have so very little of them. I like broom, lavender, etc. Night scented stock is sublime. I do understand those who are affected by them, it cannot be pleasant. Cannabis smells like skunk and tobacco so pungent, as to be abhorrent. Yet they are all natural odours which in society have a predominance.Luckily, they do not affect me or cause any type of rashes or shortness of breath. Sympathy for those who are so affected. Cheers Jamie
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I had an accident in the sleeper on the truck one time. I had so many of those little pine trees hanging up, that truck smelled like a Pine Forest full of shit for about a month!
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Too much information, Leland!!! ;o)
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