Assistant Editor Andy Sia: In Brooke Middlebrook’s “Après L’Ondée,” scent is a mode of inquiry that necessitates sensitivity down to the level of the molecular. Scent intermingles—as Middlebrook’s use of the Venn diagram format would suggest—as within the body. More generally, Middlebrook traces the seam in which the personal, interior world collides with the world-at-large, and vice versa. In doing so, Middlebrook underscores interconnectedness: the way individual experiences are always modulated by larger social forces. Simultaneously, Middlebrook looks to beauty, desire and renewal as alternatives to economic exploitation and environmental degradation. 

Listen to Middlebrook read the poem:

Après L’Ondée

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Text:

Left set of Venn diagram:

I began collecting perfume samples after
I moved to Houston, not realizing that the sweltering heat, the
humidity, the frequent rain
dampened movement of scent molecules to one’s nose. There were signs
that acquiring new perfume was becoming an obsession, tiny glass vials everywhere
in my apartment, until I heard someone saying
the best way to organize them was in ammo boxes. You
could keep them safe from heat and light, an easy place to store all your loot
After the hurricane, some of us wanted to live life differently, didn’t we
I suddenly found myself craving green scents, like the fresh growth of a new shoot.

Right set of Venn diagram:

after the hurricane, a chemical plant full of unstable peroxides not far from
the city lost power, flooded from a record amount of pelting
rain. Residents were told to evacuate because without AC, all
signs pointed to imminent combustion and explosion. But
everywhere the water rose, the roads impassable. Workers had been
saying for years it wasn’t safe, but
you know big companies, they’re only thinking about profits, precious
loot. Watching the news as the chemicals finally broke down,
we exhaled sharply when we saw the flames
shoot into the sky, the velvet-black smoke, nothing to do now but breathe in.

Union:

after
the
rain
signs
everywhere
saying
you
loot
we
shoot.

Brooke Middlebrook grew up in the hills of western Massachusetts and now lives in Birmingham, Alabama. She’s currently an MFA student in nonfiction at Bennington College. Recent work appears in Hunger Mountain, Waterwheel Review, and X-R-A-Y.

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