Your perfume lingers

Your perfume lingers
In the things you left behind
Your favourite notebook
A silver bangle that dances –
to whose tune only it knows
In your favourite red polka dot dress
And the pillowcase under your head.

Your perfume lingers
In the memories you left behind
The tenor of your voice –
I hear it still if I concentrate
The way you’d fight for what was right
Quick to anger and giggles
In a wardrobe filled with your knick-knacks.

Your perfume lingers
In the people you left behind
Shiru still sits at your bedside
Like he can see your ghost, waiting
For your joyous hugs
And the way you taught us to love
In our tears as we remember you.

It may have been years
But it feels like only yesterday
When we shared the same space and breath
And yet no one found the knife I used,
to twist into your heart
To stop the pain of your departure
So I could preserve everything we had.

Your perfume lingers
In the me you left behind.


This post is a part of Blogchatter Half Marathon.

18 responses to “Your perfume lingers”

  1. A wave of nostalgia comes gently with your poetry Suchita!

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    1. Thank you so much!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. seethlakshmi Avatar
    seethlakshmi

    Loved the poem. It’s poignant. Especially the imageries of the fourth stanza makes it hard to ignore the pain, grief and longing expressed in the poem. Also, interestingly, the next two lines comes in as a breeze, as a comfort.
    Beautifully penned!

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    1. Thank you so much!

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  3. It was so touching!!

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    1. Thank you โค

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  4. such touching lines! It’s beautifully sad.

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  5. Wizardencil Avatar
    Wizardencil

    Oh such touching words. Every person, every thing we encounter leaves behind a musk of its own

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    1. So true. And having known them changes you too.

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  6. Oh, it’s so beautiful and poignant.

    And it reminds me of an interesting word: ‘Sillage’.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you for teaching me a new word ๐Ÿ˜Š

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  7. So beautifully penned, Suchita! The sorrow of losing a loved one never really goes away…

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you ๐Ÿ™‚

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  8. They say the musk deer leaves the trail where ever it goes. I feel every person that once was part of our lives is like that musk deer who leaves behind the lingering smell of the memories created together and things shared.
    Very graphic presentation of redolent emotions.
    Bravo Suchita

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks much Anagha ๐Ÿ™‚

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  9. An eminently evocative tribute to the person concerned. The perfume lingers in the heart of the reader too.

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    1. Thank you ๐Ÿ™‚

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