Scentsability

My husband likes the smell of gasoline;
I don’t agree.
And when he polishes his shoes,
I have to up and flee.

He likes that odor, too, but it’s
A scent that I despise.
We all have smells we love and hate
But why just mystifies.

I cannot wear cologne and find
Most perfumes rather cloying;
That smell in close proximity
Is really quite annoying.

I do not mind the smell of paint,
Though many cannot take it;
And often, if a person stinks
You have to smile and fake it.

I love the smell of coffee
Yet when pregnant, it repulsed me.
A seatmate in a theater, camphor-clad
Nearly convulsed me.

I do not like deodorant
That’s scented – you can tell.
I much prefer it, though, to none,
Which really can repel.

I adore the smell of burning leaves,
The salt tang of the sea;
But I’ll run out of any store
That reeks of potpourri.

Incense makes me queasy, though
Cigars and pipes are fine;
Cigarette smoke I can’t stand
Though once, I crossed that line.

Sometimes just a whiff of scent
Can conjure up a place;
Smells get lodged inside our brain,
Not easy to erase.

How we feel about a smell
Won’t change – it’s like we’re stuck;
And therefore some scents get an “Ahh…”
While others yield a “Yuck!”