Pasta Scented Memories
By Elijiah, Year 9
In Fatima Ashgar’s poem “Smell is the last memory to go” the fragrance of citrus and jasmine knocks the narrator back into the arms of her mother as it evokes her perfume. But for me it is the smell of a simpler time with family, that garlicky pasta smell that takes me back to the memory of sitting on the front porch watching life go by day by day.
We sit and talk.
Panthers would win and Pop would gloat.
Nan would watch the chase.
Dylan would play his games.
A simpler time.
Me and Pop would talk for hours and at the end of the day he would make his pasta bake. My favourite food.
I would take in the smells.
A note of love and cheesy goodness.
Your nose could taste the slow cooked mince.
My heart could feel his hugs as I eat.
A simpler time.
I read the rare recipe.
Still stained with spaghetti sauce.
Pop’s pasta bake is a simpler time.
It’s a time I cherish.
You can always smell the happiness
in the air when it’s made.
This poem was written in Olfactory. In Olfactory, students learn about features of discursive writing. They create a series of short responses or segments that will accumulate to become a personal essay about the olfactory world. From surveying their peers as to what is the most pukeworthy smell to developing their very own ‘personality perfume’ students reflect on and share their personal connections to the world of smells, odours and fragrances. Lynx Africa, anyone? Student will learn about and employ such features as anecdotes, figurative language, factoids, allusion and anaphora.