Mrs. Percival's Toilet Water

Mrs Percival's Toilet Water

I knew her smell
through seven years
from five to twelve

For me
blue lilac toilet water
meant Mrs Percival

I had seen the bottle
on her dressing table
and wondered why
she didn't use rose water

Too young to know
women are as different
as the scents they choose
to wear
or in some cases
not wear

Preacher Philpot's wife
said perfume was a snare
of Satan

though she loved her own
flower garden
sat swinging on her porch
breathing its heavy fragrance

Notes

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McDaniel, Wilma. (2001) Borrowed Coats. Hanging Loose Press, Brooklyn, New York.
Courtesy University of California, Merced Library. Copyright owned by the Regents of the University of California.