white jasmine petals
like the finest silk so pure
nature's sweet perfume

Mother brings a lot off memories
The first perfume I smelt was hers as I snuggled in her arms.
Years later when Angels needed her more than me I realized that she wore no perfume all her life, what I smelt was her love for me.
Now I know why angels look so beautiful it's because you and many a mother is there to braid their hair just right.

free as a bird I found myself out of the cage of love
a display of unrestrained delight
released from physical obstruction
only to realize freedom smelled like floral notes of sambac,
jasmine and tunisian orange blossom just like you

as I walk through the house
there‘s this familiar scent
it’s always around me,
always present.

a sweet air fills my nose,
so lovely, it smells like a rose

a flower that reminds me of home,
a fragrance that makes me bloom.
I smile when I notice,
it‘s my mother’s perfume.

- gio, 28.03.2020

Let Me Give Her Diamonds
by Michael R. Burch

Let me give her diamonds
for my heart's
sharp edges.

Let me give her roses
for my soul's
thorn.

Let me give her solace
for my words
of treason.

Let the flowering of love
outlast a winter
season.

Let me give her books
for all my lack
of reason.

Let me give her candles
for my lack
of fire.

Let me kindle incense,
for our hearts
require

the breath-fanned
flaming perfume
of desire.

Keywords/Tags: Valentine, gifts, diamonds, roses, books, candles, incense, perfume, desire, love

I drowned in the cushions  because you
weren't there to help me float above the
                                         sleepless twilight..

But while I was dragged beneath the waves
of quilted ecstasy, I was motionless...
           I was smothered beyond the grasp
of your touch.

I missed you on the opposite side of this
      boat of slumber, but without you
It rocked in the rough seas  
                                         of lonely nights.

I can still feel the breeze of your perfume
on the sheets
                   I sail on every night..


You were the anchor of my dreams,

         and now I drown every nightfall.

Without you,
it doesn't feel right to
          sleep in an ocean meant for two..


But now I drown in this bed,
                         suffocating  on cushions,

         drowning in this quilt of loneliness.

Redolence
by Michael R. Burch

Now darkness ponds upon the violet hills;
cicadas sing; the tall elms gently sway;
and night bends near, a deepening shade of gray;
the bass concerto of a bullfrog fills
what silence there once was; globed searchlights play.

Green hanging ferns adorn dark window sills,
all drooping fronds, awaiting morning’s flares;
mosquitoes whine; the lissome moth again
flits like a veiled oud-dancer, and endures
the fumblings of night’s enervate gray rain.

And now the pact of night is made complete;
the air is fresh and cool, washed of the grime
of the city’s ashen breath; and, for a time,
the fragrance of her clings, obscure and sweet.

Published by Poetry Magazine, Poetic Reflections, The New Formalist, Carnelian, Little Brown Poetry, Poetic Ponderings, Poem Kingdom, Net Poetry and Art Competition, The Best of the Eclectic Muse 1989-2003, Romantics Quarterly, Sonnetto Poesia, Poetry Life & Times and Trinacria

Keywords/Tags: Sonnet, night, darkness, violet, hills, rain, fresh, cleansing, fragrance, perfume, clings, clinging, obscure, sweet, concerto, dance, dancer