Countdown (17)

I am particularly sensitive to perfumes. Especially those of the floral types. In a recent trip to London a woman in the Underground almost committed Murder by Perfume.

She had a particularly floral fragrance to her. I am sure many would have found it appealing but in my case it was extremely disturbing. First my nose started to twitch as it sensed flowers. Then my eyes start to tear. Then turn red. And then become a chameleon’s, bulging and accusatory.

I just had to move away from her. So I frantically searched for a packet of tissues in my bag, got up, and moved as far away from her as I could.

But the damage had been done. The sneezing started. My brain was shook in twenty different directions inside my skull. The tissues struggled to cope with the onslaught. Wave after wave of snotty typhoon battered the three-ply paper. It didn’t have a chance.

It took me an hour to recover after the train ride. After several bouts of medication for my nose and eyes. I survived if somewhat stoned.

Please don’t be mistaken. I am not blaming the woman who sat beside me in the tube. Nor am I blaming the perfume she was wearing. Not even the manufacturers of said perfume. It is not their fault that flowers and my respiratory orifices tend not to go well together.

It is a pity. I love flowers. I love the range of colours, shapes, and even the scents. I just don’t like what the scents can do to me sometimes. Or rather very often. Particularly in Spring.

Flower and blossoms of all types can effect me. Some have a stronger effect than others. My hay fever has gotten worse in the past couple of years. It is not surprising that the subject of hay fever & allergies has crept into some of my poetry. A couple made it into Old & UnWise – A Haphazard Collection of Poetry and Thought.

I often mix and match the senses in my poetry. If you would like to know more about smelly thoughts, don’t miss Countdown (18)

This blog is the seventeenth in a series of 30 leading up to my sixtieth birthday.  Thanks for getting this far. Please consider subscribing to my blog to keep up to date with my posts.

You can also subscribe to my Instagram Channel here: