White Scented Memories

Inspired by the poem selected for the Beyond Poems and Paintings Exhibition August to September 2021. Ten poems, 2 artists assigned for each to paint what the poem is communicating. This is the poem and I tried to translate to the canvas the fragrance itself since that was the cause of her reminisce about her childhood memories. I am hoping I was able to communicate its lovely fragrance with my brushstrokes!

White Fragrance

Lou and I climbed the dirt road to the cemetery,
where we found gardenias planted by old graves,
knelt to break off a few white blossoms,
breathed in the sweetness,
too intense for perfume,
perfect n soft June air.

Now, the smell of gardenias
takes me back to thirteen,
the threshold of womanhood,
where I reveled in possibilities---
love, education, children, career,
veiled, but waiting.

-Carolyn Noell