Tag: Love

A soft-focus close-up peers down into a pale green drink containing mint and a curl of sliced cucumber. The ingredients dissolve into luminous shapes, their boundaries blurred by glass and liquid. Shades of mint, lime, and yellow-green fill the frame, giving the image a cool, muddled, almost abstract quality. Freshness and sharpness mingle in this hazy study of sweet and sour. Photo by the author.

“Sweet and Sour” * Fiction * Karin Doucette

aromatica poetica August 26, 2026

Like many young-marrieds in the 1970s, Bob and Jill devoured Siddhartha and Vonnegut, appreciated Hendrix, and filled their bodies with revolutionary meals from the spiralbound pages of Moosewood Cookbook and the Diet for a Small Planet. They bought a small, shingled house, set back from the Seattle street, which they papered, painted, and flower-potted with vigor. Both got good jobs and then had a healthy, happy son. On TV, Julia Child stirred an enticing pot of life’s possibilities which captured …

A triptych of cyanotypes from Anna Atkins’s Photographs of British Algae presents three seaweed specimens—large marine algae—rendered as white silhouettes against deep blue. From left to right: Cystoseira ericoides, Sargassum bacciferum, and Cystoseira granulata. Their forms grow increasingly dense and intricate, while faint handwritten labels quietly anchor the images in scientific taxonomy.

Blue Blades, Blue Times * Poems by Gabriella Garofalo * Cyanotypes by Anna Atkins

aromatica poetica April 28, 2026

To P. Are words partners in crime with life? A heated argument going on, While the rough wild sea can’t wait For souls to dive in and on no accounts Can flowers rise- No funny ghosts, but real wrath and hunger If over here, away to the left, In the lane alongside your fields, Maudlin ballads or garish sunsets keep shouting At full blast that life is wonderful, the trick of blue gamblers- But hush now, look, hope and desire …

A stack of pancakes on a white plate, covered with caramel-coloured syrup and topped with whipped cream and blueberries. The syrup drips down the sides of the pancakes, and the whipped cream flows over the front edge like a thick ribbon. Many blueberries are scattered on the pancakes and around the plate. Several black sparrows are gathered around the food. One bird stands on top of the pancakes pecking near the blueberries. Two birds stand near the front-left edge of the plate, close to scattered blueberries. Another bird stands to the right of the plate, facing inward. Additional birds are flying in the sky in the background. The setting is a snowy Alaska landscape with pale, misty mountains in the distance and a cloudy, bright sky. Created and described with ChatGPT.

“Fading into Alaska” * Short Story * Tatiana Samokhina

aromatica poetica March 25, 2026

There are three of them—pancakes—on a round plate in front of me. Fluffy, with bubble craters, dark-orange toasted patches spread out like a thin spiderweb. A mountain of whipped cream holds blueberry beads, glinting slightly under the dim light of the Persian-style café chandelier. I flinch when he snaps, “Alissa?” “Huh?” I look up, a fork tight between my fingers. Across the table—Victor, my boyfriend of three years. His flat cheeks, rubicund. His mouth—a single, long line. He breaks it, …

A grainy, high-contrast black-and-white photograph of an older man walking a large dog along a fog-shrouded path. The man stands slightly right of centre, wearing a long belted overcoat, a scarf, gloves, and a fedora-style hat. He holds the dog’s leash in his right hand; his posture is upright but relaxed. The dog walks to his left, head lowered slightly, appearing calm and attentive. A wooden split-rail fence runs along the left side of the path, receding into the background and partly obscured by mist. Bare tree branches arch overhead and dissolve into the fog, creating a soft, blurred canopy. The ground looks wet or muddy, with faint reflections and scattered leaves. The image edges show worn, scratched borders that give the photograph a vintage, weathered appearance. Overall mood is quiet, contemplative, and slightly melancholic. Created by ChatGPT, described by Be My AI, for Late Shift at the Museum of Smells.

“Late Shift at the Museum of Smells” * Fiction * Chris Cottom

aromatica poetica February 4, 2026

I’m working afternoons on our enquiries desk. ‘Old leather walking boots?’ asks a raincoated lady who reminds me of Gran. ‘Freshly buffed with beeswax dubbin?’ I’m gagging for a cup of tea. ‘Sorry, madam. The museum’s banned bee-based treatments.’ Across our cavernous hall, kids are staggering out of our ‘Monarch Immersion Experience’ clutching their heads. Our historic odours unit has recreated the execution of Charles I. It’s a blend of blue blood and horseshit that’s nasally indistinguishable from the real …

A small, ragged-edged rectangular slab looks like a fragment of weathered, earthen material, its surface dense with grit, cracks, and compressed fibers. Carved into the center is a sinuous, worm-like “S” shape that dips and curves across the panel. The groove is filled with a coarse, brick-red pigment that sits unevenly in the trench, giving it a textured, raised, almost crumbly feel. The surrounding brown surface appears rough and organic, as if the whole piece were excavated from soil or made of compacted earth. The contrast between the matte, mottled brown field and the vivid, tactile red line makes the form appear both primal and deliberately inscribed. Made for “The Worms.”

“The Worms” * Nonfiction * David Lowe

aromatica poetica December 3, 2025

The worms live in our basement, in two large storage bins stacked on the floor amid the clutter. Eventually, when I’ve built out more shelves and cabinets, they’ll have their own oversize drawers I can easily slide out when it’s time to feed them. I’ll carve the word WORMS into the wood, knowing that when Caroline and I are dead, new owners will puzzle over what was meant by WORMS. I mean worms. Red wigglers; Eisenia fetida in the Latin. …

A group of people sitting together on a hay-covered wagon pulled by a horse on a Halloween night. The atmosphere is joyful and celebratory, with one person holding a large, brightly colored rainbow pride flag up high. The people on the hayride are waving and smiling, dressed in various colorful clothes. Warm, glowing autumn trees surround the path, and the dark sky is dotted with a few stars. The whole scene is painted with a soft, dreamy quality, giving it a festive and inclusive feeling. By ChatGPT – inspired by “Hard to Get” by Mike Lewis-Beck.

“Hard to Get” * A Short Story * Mike Lewis Beck

aromatica poetica October 13, 2025

Hilda believed she couldn’t marry Rick, even though she loved him. She believed this because she stood married to Herbert, her first love. Her mother, Audrey Ann, told her, the morning of the twenty-pew church wedding at Lovely Lane Methodist. “Hildie, marriage makes us whole, in the eyes of our Lord, in the eyes of friends and family—love, honor, and obey. Herbert has moved up to second teller at the bank. He’s clean cut and never drinks on Sundays. When …

The photo shows a stunning landscape of a volcanic mountain range in Indonesia. In the foreground, there is a volcano emitting a plume of white smoke, which contrasts with the surrounding green and brown terrain. The volcano is surrounded by a sea of clouds or mist that blankets the lower areas, creating a mystical atmosphere. In the background, there are more mountains, with one prominent peak rising above the others. The sky is clear and blue, with a few scattered clouds, suggesting a bright and clear day. The overall scene is serene and majestic, capturing the natural beauty of the volcanic landscape.

“Sometimes” (“Kadang-Kadang”) * A Poem of Indonesia * John RC Potter

aromatica poetica January 30, 2025

Sometimes Sometimes, I miss you. I can’t forget you. You’re not far away, because I can never forget Indonesia. I remember one day we went to a mountain. This mountain is too high, you said to me. You can’t climb; foreigners can’t do it, turn around, go back! But we walked there, to the top of the mountain. Me and you, together. At the top, you took my hand; we looked at West Java below us: the ocean sparkling in …

A man and a woman sit at a kitchen table that’s draped romantically with a white tablecloth and a rose at its center. The woman in a pretty frilly collared dress looks judgingly at the man who is about to dig into his plate of meat, potatoes and greens with gusto. The fridge with magnets, a stove with simmering pot, and wood floors leading to another door are in the background. Scent tentacles reach out of the objects in their respective colors: purple for the wine, red for the rose, brown for the meat, etc. Illustration by Alabaster Rhumb.

“Anosmia” * Fiction * Tara Ison

aromatica poetica October 26, 2023

It’s early days yet (a casual omelet bar meet-up, then a nice though not too-pricey bistro dinner), but she thinks it’s going well, so far. Her friend Jean thought they’d hit it off, that Rose would like this public defender guy Jean met at some wedding and interrogated over the tarragon chicken, on Rose’s behalf, about his relationship status; Jean said he checked all the boxes Rose thinks are important, and so felt fine passing along her number. She and …

This creative and whimsical image features a large, brown dog's head and nose in space, hovering above a small Earth. The dog (probably a Basset Hound) has droopy ears and a calm expression. The Earth is depicted with blue oceans and green and brown land masses—you can make out the general shapes of continents such as North and South America, Africa, and parts of Europe and Asia. The background is a starry night sky with various galaxies and stars. The starry background appears to be a photograph, while the dog and the Earth seem to be drawn or digitally created, giving the image a mix of realism and illustration. Illustration by Alabaster Rhumb, description by Be My AI, lightly edited.

“The Nose of the World” * Fiction * Amber Burke

aromatica poetica September 20, 2023

Because you are good to me, and because I pity you for all the things you do not know, and because I want you to understand me, I will tell you how the world smells. If you could know the truth of it, you would wake up the way I wake up, besieged, inveigled, incredulous, impatient, the iridescent scent of hummingbirds already burning my nostrils: the smells, the smells! I need you to open the door so I can throw …

The Dunhuang map or Dunhuang Star map is one of the first known graphical representations of stars from ancient Chinese astronomy, dated to the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Black, red, and white ink depict the hands of different astronomers on this ancient manuscript. (Wikipedia)

“Stars or Quanta” * Poems * Yuan Changming

aromatica poetica April 7, 2023

I Miss You; Therefore, I Am Each time I miss you A bud begins to bloom So you are surrounded by flowers Everywhere you go Each time I miss you A dot of light pops up So you are illuminated by a whole sky …