Vintage Perfumeries

Over a century ago

you commenced trading,

I deduce from these photos;

with sepia fading.

My gaze, it finds yours

but yours doesn't mine,

alas, we're fractured in two

by a fissure in time.

Sensible hemlines,

waistcoats and ties;

your buttoned existence,

lends pride to your eyes.

I feel I know you -

the person you were,

a purveyor of perfume,

dear madam, dear sir.

You'll never know me

nor imagine my world

but I stand here as tribute

to how the future unfurled.

Your chosen vocation

giving the gift of fine scent

has endured to this day

dear lady, dear gent.

But since your beginnings,

a colossus emerged...

a greedy behemoth,

how sales have surged!

Gone is the era

of graces and airs

your tailor-made service...

now nothing compares.

So wherever you're lying

I hope its at rest

dear mister, dear miss,

you couldn't have guessed.

There is no reverse,

our cards have been played,

and like a whisper of perfume,

we too, will fade.