What Is The Scent Of Rain

By: Juliet Stewart -Austin

As the wind shakes the fragile limbs of the old oak,
no smell permeates the air
just the breezy smell of nothingness.

How does one capture the scent of rain,
and doth profess, it's essence it captures in perfume bottles,
and aerosol can's
I have yet to smell the scent of rain.

I draw deeply into lungs but,
its scent evades me still,
The smell of nothingness,
Not at all like Jasmine sprigs,
or red and yellow roses.

It's not at all like the ocean smell when
the tides go out and come back again
The salty, pungent odor.

Nor the freshness of oven baked bread.
that causes nostrils to flare, and lips to pucker for a taste.

It's not the smell a newborn emits,
that causes you to breathe deeply,
as you capture its powdery essence.
that baby soft odor that engulfs the senses.

It's not the smell of blacktop,
as droplets, of rain hit's it's black, hardened state,
as heat rises from its core, and
the smell of burnt tar lingers.

The smell of rain,
is what I taste on my tongue
as the wind pushes raindrops
through open windows, hitting my face
turned skyward, towards its wetness.
as I breathe in the scent of nothingness.