The First Time I Smelled Cologne

Winner-The Booksie 2018 Poetry Contest Winner - The Booksie 2018 Poetry Contest

Poem by: Faith Neece

Reads: 4750 | Likes: 41 | Shelves: 10 | Comments: 11

My school hosted a party

for the students whose work

was entered in our high school literary magazine.

I read my poem

out loud for the first time.

It was there my English teacher told me,

You’re such a good writer.

I’m so proud of you.

And he hugged me

a little too long

to be platonic,

my chest pressed

tightly against his.

I walked home in the dark

with questions,

the leftover vegetable tray in my hands,

the poetry tucked under my arm,

the scent of cologne

unfamiliar and unwanted

on my neck.

Submitted: July 12, 2018

Poetry

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Comments

Matthew D. Hay (Tangible Word)

Dark, albeit interesting - you covered an important social issue in a subtle way, which is wonderfully refreshing. This is by far the most compelling poem in the six-selected finalists, which is proof yet again of Booksie's preference for light, flimsy, unintelligent, digestible, and watered-down prose/poetry. Having been on here since 2011, and having seen my fair share of sycophantic praise - as well as picking up some well-deserved cynical bitterness - please note that I sincerely enjoyed this poem, as I enjoy very little on this site and am not afraid to say so.

Sun, November 18th, 2018 10:27pm

Kevin Broughton

Congratulations on becoming a finalist. :-)

Fri, November 23rd, 2018 11:48pm

Joy Shaw

Congrats on your win!!! Yay. So happy for you. This is a great poem and touches on some very socially sensitive material.

Mon, November 26th, 2018 2:38am

Faith Neece

Thank you, everyone! I’m truly honored.

Tue, November 27th, 2018 4:00am

Sue Harris

Congratulations on your winning poem, Faith. It is a concise but compelling piece, one that actually made my skin crawl. Very well done!

Wed, November 28th, 2018 7:56pm

The sChooL GirL

Wonderful! And congrats on you winning the contest

Fri, November 30th, 2018 3:54pm

M.D Knightley

Congratulations. Well structured, and sends accross the message with just the right amount of emotions for what i believe you're trying to convey.

I'm generally more of a rhyme monkey myself.
Enjoy the rewards ;).
Also, i'm interested in your opinion on my poem "The black rose within" I believe i should have used that one for the competition.

Keep up the good work!

Tue, December 4th, 2018 5:27pm

nofacedwriter

What a twist. I initially thought this was gonna be a love poem but, you were able to clearly get your message trough. Anyways good job I really like this.

Sat, December 8th, 2018 3:43am

nofacedwriter

What a twist. I initially thought this was gonna be a love poem but, you were able to clearly get your message trough. Anyways good job I really like this. :)

Sat, December 8th, 2018 3:44am

Willie N Small

I feel like I just ate a bunch of dry toasted bread in a dark kitchen with no light switch and I'm fumbling around trying to get a glass of water. Contests are made for winners not writers so don't take any thing to heart and write because your soul bleeds the ink that writes your words.

Thu, February 7th, 2019 6:23am