Let me be direct, the most outstanding part about your piece now is the fact that I did not expect it to be sad until I reach the last WORD.

Althhough the last line in your first stanza is an introductory but I just did not expect it to be moving that way.

So, then I read again and started thinking of your usage of words, for example I was moved by the second stanza a lot, you were not trying to jam it with beautiful scents or images but actually the scents you have mentioned are know to be long lasting ones and those that stuck to the skin and to the clothes, doesn't go away in seconds or minutes, they are long lasting scent sources.

And ones that makes you close your eyes as you inhale, which got along with the part about seduction....how wise!

The morning musk, loook how beautifuuuuuuuul, this person is a very imp character in your love, a little bit dominant. And you give him this position where you show the impact they've got on your personality and life, perhaps just for poetic uses, in other words it's all fiction but you played it very well in that case.

What is heart breaking when reaching the end of the piece, is to know that you have counted the days, to assure the imp role this person plays, and also to show how connected you are to them...

I love this poem Mel. It's heartfelt, creative, original and very deep.
Love. 5/5

The way you decided to start the poem and then show us the readers exactly what you're trying to show is out of the ordinary, It's like you glow me to the screen while wanting to read more and figure out exactly where this is going to take me!
keep writing, like I said to you before I believe you are a true artist with your work And I Do believe you should go public with it

Holy crap, Mel. How you came up with this when the challenge was what it was is beyond me. I like the tricky way you threw in the colors. I was reading it and was like hey, cheater, she didn't put the colors in. But you did so in a sly way... haha.

I like the imagery in the first stanza, you opened in a way that someone can always relate to and make it about them. That was something that can easily draw in a lot of people and I just thought it was beautiful.

The second stanza is absolutely my favorite - you go into this big list of things that are reminders, and normally when people list things it gets boring, but the pace in which I read made it go a bit faster and made the poem feel more intense. I read it like a childrens lullaby or story, with a certain tone to it, and then leading into your next lines with "dread" and "bed" in the same breath was outstanding for me. I love the subtle rhyme, even though they're not in the same line or even ending lines, you still have it within the pace. Gave it something fresh there at the end.. which I doubt you even intended haha.

I don't know if this is because you're Aus and you can't spell things right (lmao) but we spell it chamomile... Idk if you guys drop the h (or we added one).

The last stanza was short for you, but I loved it. The ending made it so freaking sad - the poem could've taken so many directions, but loss is something I really felt. The agony in the remembrance. It really is a beautiful poem, and of course I nominated it. :)

I never thought my palms would miss
the calluses that decorate your hands
^This was interesting to me - the usage of 'decorate' isn't something I usually would associate with calluses since they aren't the most attractive thing, however you just have a way of being poetic and making it work, love it ;)

Just absolutely brilliant. I love how you always throw a bit of flowers in each poem or scents or something. I always love the symbolism beneath it all. Lovely poem as always, Mel!

Mel, this is jaw-droppingly good! It is more than just poetry, it is art, it is true talent...and I am in total awe, amazement, just love this piece totally...

The title drew me in, Nautical makes me think of the sea, and the blue just added to that, but I didn't expect what I read.

"Poets write of loneliness
where knuckles lay straight and fingers beg
each other to succumb to an unconnected
romance."

^^That is one of the most powerful openings I have ever read, because I write of loneliness and sometimes I don't realise it. The way our fingers marry the pen and become numb after writing, that is pure brilliance.

"I have never been the type to
memorize a scent but you are a tropical
morning of golden pineapples and water lilies,
sandal wood, forgotten jasmine and a bitten
peach that seduces even the most untempted
of ants. You are the morning musk I dread
when my body meets my bed and tonight
I realized mattresses are something like love:"

^^The whole imagery here is beautiful, I can see the yellow and orange of a pineapple and the lilies, the beige brown of wood and purple jasmine and everything, WOW...Brilliant

and then the ending? Well, that just blew me away, that sadness that had been lingering just came out and took my breath away...

What a poem...what a poem
WOW
x

Another lovely write from you and....while I don't think I'll be anywhere near close to giving a full interpretation I will give it a go because....as usual this is very intriguing.

Poets write of loneliness
where knuckles lay straight and fingers beg
each other to succumb to an unconnected
romance.
^^^^

This part I'm thinking could be a romance..a relectant one I may add...between you fingers and a pen...you want to write something but your fingers won't let you pick up the damn pen?
I never thought my palms would miss
the calluses that decorate your hands but
you are a handwritten letter, the one I
probably should have left.

The first part of this I'd say...these can't that you miss were one's of someone who worked hard at their job....I know the title of the poem would indicate someone who goes to sea but...I honestly don;t know why but....trady sprung to my mind haha!!! I'm going to be honest and say I don;t really know what the second part is about.

I have never been the type to
memorize a scent but you are a tropical
morning of golden pineapples and water lilies,
sandal wood, forgotten jasmine and a bitten
peach that seduces even the most untempted
of ants. You are the morning musk I dread
when my body meets my bed and tonight
I realized mattresses are something like love:

Maybe subconciously we do remember certain smells although, at the time, we don't register them and....maybe now that this person is not there the smells are more acute?

you can sleep a King and I'll sleep single,
knowing camomile kisses are a sign of
sickness and a hundred hours spent
counting the 304 days since you left.

^^^^

Such a sad part to this wonderful poem but also very creative...much better than saying sleeping alone now... The ending well....what can I say...very good way to end this sad story.

Although I still don't fully understand your poems I do feel you've opened up a lot more in the past 6 months so...good on you!

Amazing. You still shine as if the sun has never set on your side, Mel! :)

"I never thought my palms would miss
the calluses that decorate your hands but
you are a handwritten letter"
^
My favorite.

Have you ever thought that writing sad poems make readers actually feel better? That's what yours did to me.

And thanks for explaining the camomile part! :)

Love.

I just feel like giving you long funny comments like I used to. but I can't gather my thoughts well. I can't find ways to describe my feelings towards pieces anymore. its like I've lost the love I had for poetry. I can't lose myself in it anymore.. all I can manage nowadays, is "brilliant write" or "how lovely"... its like I lost something. I write and everything. but it just doesn't feel the same.

regardless of everything and me now being a shallow bastard who can't seem to enjoy anything i once loved anymore.

I still want to say, that I have read this several times. that you write still as beautiful, as before I lost my love for poetry.

and that me, not being able to comment like I wish I could. does not mean that I wasn't move, or felt amazed by your metaphors.

and that ending felt like a punch in the face,
how poignant and bitter.

you just get better and better,
ain't no doubt about that.

I love you.

Wow. I could just feel the longing in this poem...a longing for that person who represents this scent. It's crazy how a slight whiff of a certain scent can represent a person and take you back to a time when they were in your life. Your descriptions here were just wonderful. Reading the second stanza brought the scents alive for me as if they were dancing around the tip of my nose and telling me about this person you described.

"I never thought my palms would miss
the calluses that decorate your hands "
^Ah there is so much here! My favorite.

Just me and your poetry tonight... talalalala

<3<3