By Michael Dees

by Michael Dees

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nature☁️ aesthetic waterfall

The Way Smell Evokes Memory

On a hot summer afternoon, after a day of playing in the sun but before retiring to play video games, my mother would always shower. She loved spending time with us on those rare free days when all five of her girls were home, and she wasn’t working one of many jobs she held down simultaneously to provide. Our job was to set the living room up, since she didn’t understand and wasn’t willing to learn how to work the equipment. She would emerge in a puff of steam and a waft of perfume. Unwilling to wear shorts outside, those days she was even willing to don a light summer nightdress. We each peeled off at different times in the night, smart enough and independent enough to dictate our own bedtimes. With a yawn, I’d announce my departure. My mother was never short on hugs, pulling me in and holding me, understanding of the importance of that contact. Rich vanilla and rose and a creamy, heavy shea butter: the last things I’d smell for the night.

When riffling through the cabinet before moving out, I discovered the exact lotion she would use. Her ‘yes’ when I asked to take it was distracted, unaware of the significance. Although, I don’t use it much.

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author writer books & libraries academia perfume memory smell my.writing mywork memoir writerlife summernight originalwriting newauthor flashfiction originalpiece newwriter mymemories writingprose hotnight summeraesthetic emergingwriter

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quillrosetellsstories

2 years ago

Albert Camus

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quotes writers literature books & libraries academia words lit writersoftumblr spilledink bookquotes relateablequotes ifeltthatshit

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quillrosetellsstories

2 years ago

Remembering the great activist & artist, Valerie Maynard (1937 - 2022)

nytimes.com

Valerie Maynard, Artist Who Celebrated Black Identity, Dies at 85

A sculptor and printmaker aligned with the Black Arts Movement, she tackled racism and oppression while reflecting on African American cultu

Remembering The Great Activist & Artist, Valerie Maynard (1937 - 2022)

“No Apartheid Anywhere” (1995)

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artist rest in power black tumblr black culture black history melanin blackexcellence blackart black excellence blackartist valeriemaynard Valerie Maynard

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quillrosetellsstories

2 years ago

*peek*

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meme nature☁️ aesthetic sky bird captionthis california birb seagull

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quillrosetellsstories

2 years ago

Teaching in 2020

Second grade was hard enough

The seconds turn into hours

Screens turn to staff as

Students turn their screens on and off

Teaching students slipping out of their chairs at home

Teaches us what we thought we already learned

Too raw is the view into the houses of inner-city youth

Exposed to their reality; my past too.

When the day is over, we rub our burning eyes

We say it is easy when we are pioneers

Fighting our exhaustion and creeping mental instability

Has us fighting our love for our career.

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poetry poem author education writer books & libraries covid academic teaching academiaaesthetic black literature spilledink aestheticpoetry fuck covid womenwriters poemwriter newauthor newpoet emergingpoet pocpoet writingpoetry newideas

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quillrosetellsstories

2 years ago

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books library aesthetic academia bookblr shelves academiaaesthetic libraryszn studyaesthetic

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quillrosetellsstories

2 years ago

i love discovering the hidden gems in my city!

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