My Mother’s Fragrance

I would smell it as I turned into my street,

Returning after a hectic day, totally beat.

It got stronger as I neared my home,

I thought it was the smell of food she cooked for me with aplomb!

I would smell it when she woke me each morning,

Her stern tone giving me sufficient forewarning,

If I failed to comply with her call,

The smell would be so close I would awaken in a fiery thrall!

I would smell it when she was angry,

I would smell it when she did tasks sundry,

I would smell it when she was happy or forlorn,

I thought it was her perfume, but I was wrong.

I missed the smell when I got married,

Would stock it in my heart in her house when I tarried,

I asked her which fragrance lasted so long,

It’s mother’s love, she said, I'd get it too when my child is born.