the smell of rain
I went out for a brief walk this afternoon. It was raining, but not so hard you needed an umbrella (I hate umbrellas anyway). And so very strong, the smell of rain.
I remember once reading out a poem of mine and having someone come up after the reading and note that I'd used the phrase 'the smell of rain'. I couldn't tell if he liked it or was simply taking the mickey (the latter, I suspect, as he was a very 'cool' poet and I am, manifestly, not).
I wondered about the smell. To me it's always been obvious. But today I decided to go and find, and here, via the ABC and CSIRO, is some hard data. The common rain smell comes from a gas called petrichor. Apparently, volatiles evaporate from plants and are absorbed by rocks, concrete etc. When the rain hits the rock, the volatiles are released into the atmosphere. That's why I can particularly smell it wandering along concrete paths and past sandstone walls.
If it's good enough for CSIRO, it's good enough for my poem.
Now to use petrichor in a poem.
I remember once reading out a poem of mine and having someone come up after the reading and note that I'd used the phrase 'the smell of rain'. I couldn't tell if he liked it or was simply taking the mickey (the latter, I suspect, as he was a very 'cool' poet and I am, manifestly, not).
I wondered about the smell. To me it's always been obvious. But today I decided to go and find, and here, via the ABC and CSIRO, is some hard data. The common rain smell comes from a gas called petrichor. Apparently, volatiles evaporate from plants and are absorbed by rocks, concrete etc. When the rain hits the rock, the volatiles are released into the atmosphere. That's why I can particularly smell it wandering along concrete paths and past sandstone walls.
If it's good enough for CSIRO, it's good enough for my poem.
Now to use petrichor in a poem.
Comments
Look forward to your poem. I've already got petrichor into a draft. Whether the poem sees the light of day is a different matter.
What's the journal? Sounds Australian if it's about 'the drought'.
Cheers, Jill
thinking about the pros & cons of watering my lawn takes up about half my day. look forward to reading you petrichoric poem jill.
The petrichor poem is a long sequency thing. Still needs much work. Hasn't made it to the computer yet.
This line repeats itself to me with "smell like rain" replacing the "look" when I use a particular shampoo that smells like rain. Singing in the shower, you know.
I love the image, either way.
Peace,
libramoon
libramoon42@mindspring.com
http://emergingvisions.blogspot.com
Thanks for doing the hard yards on this one, Jill. What a lovely word petrichor is.
I have just returned from a beach house on the Bellarine peninsula, very short of water indeed, with a damn full flush toilet! and ordinary showers. Awful, truly awful guilt. But I am bucketing rinsing water all over the place, and my normally arid garden is quite delighted. Guess we should enjoy it while we can.
That could be the extra static in the air from the rain clouds…