My mother's perfume

Mother's perfume lasted long after she went
a subtle lingering smell
rose
vanilla
sweet
it was in her clothes
in her bedsheets
in her house
like a ghost that haunted me
the more I tried to forget
the more I smelt her
childhood memories
sparked by the fragrance
until I stopped going
there was no longer any need
and life continued
minute by minute
hour by hour
day by day
summer into autumn
to winter to spring
one day on a park bench
a breeze brought with it
that
scent
my mother's perfume
wafted casually through the air
defiant
challenging me
my emotions
that fought within me
to rise to the surface
through every other feeling
the persistence
the insistance
that I remember
acknowledge
never forget
rose
vanilla
sweet
suffocating me.