“Sur l’odeur propre de la terre”
The day my daughter asked me
If there was a name for the smell after rain
I caught my breath
As, in that instant,
She became the kind of person
Who notices the smell of the earth
After it rains
Petra from stone
Like the dry bones of the earth
That live hot and hard
Here in the Baja desert
Ichor
From the golden blood of gods.
Petrichor
The smell of gods blood
On the earth
(I know that feeling on my own bones)
This is a word forged in a furnace
The science of geosmin or
‘Earth smell’
As oils and soils breathe
And the vivid relief
After a first rain
Bring longing and life
Finally together
There is a tart joy
When a nine year old
Lights up to her self
And senses into the world
As it breathes
As its blood moves
And, best of all
The dorksome* joy
Of a new
Favorite word
For Isabel Joy Bear
Who invented the word Petrichor
*Dorksome. Awesomeness for dorks
Jeff Hamaoui is a co-founder of MEA and Regen Communities, the Chief Education and Innovation Officer and an entrepreneur, sage, wit, and poet.