The child peppered the sky with questions,
Why do my tears and the ocean taste salty?
Why does this plant taste like lemon,
but my cat smells like nutmeg?
A moon-breeze carried the scent of roses and wonder–
she understood then, everything is connected.
This is for dVerse. Kim has asked us to write a quadrille using some form of the word pepper in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Yesterday and today: Merril's historical musings 
Besides a beautiful quadrille, our images are once again in synch…
and a cat that smells like nutmeg! yum! (K)
I guess we are in sync because I really wanted to try a Kerfe-style collage to go with this, but I don’t have time right now.
My Ricky cat has a little bit of a spicy smell, but I always thought my younger daughter’s cat smelled like nutmeg and cinnamon. 🙂
Oh I do love the child connecting the dots better than most adults.
Thanks so much, Björn!
Interesting that it is through scent that one knows the world is connected.
Oh well, it’s just a poem, Frank. She had an epiphany. 🙂
Absolutely gorgeous! Such a lot of lovely sensations and of course, she’s right 🙂
Thank you, Jane. 🙂
🙂
Of course you have to go to the sky if you want answers! I love the scent of wonder…
Thank you, Jennifer. 🙂
Ooooo, a cat smelling of nutmeg. Perfect!
Thank you, Sarah. 🙂
Thank you, Sarah!
Beautifully crafted…yes, a cat smells like nutmeg…amazing!
Thank you, Holly! He did. 🙂
I love the child’s questions ~ And yes, everything is connected ~
Thanks so much, Grace!
I had an epiphany too: ExQuisite Quadrille!!
Thank you, Marian! 🙂
I remember my daughter peppering the sky with questions, probably similar to ones I asked when I was a child. But aren’t they wonderful? And it’s amazing to see the light bulb burn brightly when they join the dots!
I agree. Thank you, Kim!
Lovely poem. The ‘why’ period is wonderful and infuriating at once 🙂
Thank you, Derrick.
I think perhaps too many people stop asking why. 🙂
I love the way kids show us the world. I’ll never forget when my daughter started laughing uncontrollably at the word “turtleneck.” Love the journey of the senses in this poem!
Thanks so much.
My daughters laughed uncontrollably at particular words, too. But then again, I do, too, sometimes. 😉
This is beautiful Merril full of tastes, scents and wonder.
Thanks so much, Janice!
Love the thought-provoking perceptions of a child that you share with us here. Wish my dogs smelled like nutmeg!
Thank you, Victoria. 🙂
To see life truly, in the wonders of a child’s questions. Beautifully written. ❤
Thank you very much, Olga!
Aw, this was so sweet, Merril.
When you spoke of a little girl looking up, this made me visualize, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and how John Lennon said it was not about LSD but about his son, Sean and his describing a crayon picture he did. 🙂
The scent of cats always reminds me of my grandmother’s sweaters. Funny, huh? She didn’t own any cats. . .
My little brochure or booklet I used at the battered women’s shelter (which I wrote and illustrated) was titled “Nutmeg and Cinnamon” about two girl critters who met at a shelter. They looked like gerbils and guinea pigs.
One’s father touched her undervher nightgown and her tummy felt all jumbled up inside. The other’s mother slapped and often berated her, so confused why she couldn’t stay with her meek and mild father. It was simply to open a conversation up to what their home life was like.
Thank you, Robin. This was one of those poems that just came to me very quickly. My daughter’s cat that she had when she was a child (he died her senior year in high school) really did smell like cinnamon and nutmeg. I think all our cats have a different scent. I obviously spend a lot of time with my face in their hair. 😉
I sometimes out my face up to my friend Jenny’s cats I watch while they are out of town. She smells my breath and while I sit on the sofa she “nuzzles” my hair and back of my head! I always thought they just smelled like cats. I will try to see if they have a scent. 🙂
One of our cats likes to smell the top of my head, and he sometimes sits behind me on the couch and does the same thing. 🙂
Aww, her calico older cat is named Kira. What’s your hair-sniffing cat called, Merril? 🙂
I once wrote about her naughty cats but actually Tayla is the younger more guilty of pranks and spilling and dropping things so I hear a crash in the night or come home to their place and see a tray tipped over! Silly cats! 😉
Mickey is the white cat who sniffs my hair. We say he is my husband’s cat. 🙂 Ricky the grey-striped cat is my baby. They are both goofy and adorable.
Aw, thanks for sharing their names with me, Merril. Goofy and adorable is what we all need a bit more of, less serious stuff or warm creatures to hold. xo