Olfactory Influences

Coco Chanel

Sometimes, alone in the deep of night

awakened by a presence in my heart;

seek as I might to reclaim the caress of sleep

memories, perhaps best forgotten

hold me in their keep...

I recall:

the touch of your eyes when first we had met;

the feel of a room you were in.

Frank Sinatra foretelling our lives, and

the Coco Chanel on your skin.

I remember:

honey-soft words you murmured to me;

the brush of soft skin on my thighs;

the taste of your sweetness; the touch of your hand;

the passion expressed by our cries.

There were:

gentle conversations filled with laughter and hope

as cigarettes glowed in the dark,

and hot afternoons, 'neath late Summer Sun

on a bench, by a tree in the park.

The Moon is a memory of sunlight,

the Autumn a memory of Spring,

and my lingering memory of a love that once lived -

The scent of Coco Chanel on your skin.

1988