Your Perfume Lingers Like a Warning Sign

A cycle of poems «Your Kiss Tasted Like a Late-Night Regret»

Coat still hangs by the back door,
Smells like jasmine… and something more.
I haven’t worn it since you left -
But every breath feels like a theft.

I sprayed the room with cedar mist,
Opened windows, clenched my fist.
But scent’s a thief - it won’t obey -
It drags me back to yesterday.

Your perfume lingers like a warning sign,
A ghost of love I can’t unwrite.
It clings to curtains, coats, and skin -
A sweet deceit that pulls me in.
One whiff, and I’m back in your arms,
Safe from every coming storm.
But storms came anyway… and you walked out the door -
Leaving scent… and nothing more.

You’d kiss my neck before you’d go,
Leave your mark where no one’d know.
Said, “It’s just my favorite blend,”
But it was code: “I’ll come back again.”
Now the bottle sits on your old shelf -
Half-empty, haunting by itself.
I swear I hear it whisper low:
“She’s never coming home.”

I washed the scarf, I burned the lace,
Tried to scrub your trace from space.
But memory lives in molecules -
And yours still hums in quiet spells.

Your perfume lingers like a warning sign,
A ghost of love I can’t unwrite.
It clings to curtains, coats, and skin -
A sweet deceit that pulls me in.
One whiff, and I’m back in your arms,
Safe from every coming storm.
But storms came anyway… and you walked out the door -
Leaving scent… and nothing more.

Last week I passed a stranger’s trail -
Same rose-vanilla, soft and pale.
I froze right there on city stone,
Heart cracked open, all alone.
Turned around, half-hoping, blind…
Just wind and rain and passing time.
But for a second, you were near -
And I believed you’d reappear.

Funny how the smallest things
Hold the weight that sorrow brings.
Not photos, not your final note -
Just fragrance on an old wool coat.
You thought it was just how you smelled…
But to me, it was a world you held.
Now it’s a siren, sharp and thin -
Telling me: Don’t let her back in.

Your perfume lingers like a warning sign,
A beautiful lie I can’t untwine.
It wraps around my ribs like thorn -
A love that bloomed… then left me torn.
One breath, and I forget the pain,
The silence, distance, cold, and rain.
But then I remember - you’re not mine…
Just scent… and ghosts… and warning signs.

So I’ll hang the coat out in the rain,
Let the wind erase your name.
But if tomorrow brings that trace -
I’ll still turn… and lose my place.
Your perfume fades… but not the line
Between your love…
And your goodbye.