while sitting 

in the little waiting room

at my optometrist’s office

I looked up from my reading 

as a man entered 

 the wave of his cologne

washing over me

my nose was overwhelmed

drowning out my other senses

 I knew it was being absorbed

into my clothes, my skin, my hair

my eyes began to burn and water

luckily he was called first

I felt for the doctor

 and was reminded of him

when I entered the examining room 

where he had left his mark

moving on

toward his next unsuspecting victim.

—

“i think it’s interesting that ‘cologne’ rhymes with ‘alone.’ “

-demetri martin

 

 

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image credit: liveoutlaw.com