Were U There?

Were U There?

Tom Ford’s Oud Wood brought me back to a time when there were Better Days. Days when I wondered aloud if a train would ever come down those Tracks. Come barreling through the Tunnel to join us on the sweat-stained floor. Were you there Tom? Were you there?

Were you there in the Studio on 54 when the silver streamers came down around our feet, leaving note-shaped blisters on our souls?

Were you there when Sylvester made us laugh and cry all in the same breath? Were you here all the time? With Beauty, style, and tall dark Grace. Sparking face with each strobe light flash. Our bodies swaying like Slaves to the Rhythm of the beat, beat, beat. That Glorious Disco heat.

Were you there when Donna served us our last chance for romance? And we danced that dance as the key to Staying Alive. Were you there?

Were you there to Ring My Bell when we strolled through MacArthur Park? Did you leave your umbrella at home when The Weather Girls told you the rain had magic feet?

I was there Tom. I was back there again. I knew it the moment I took a deep breath… Oud Wood. I could feel all the bodies flickering in the electric light. Oud Wood. I remember now. I was there Tom. Were you?

-B. Poree’ © 2018

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This is my ode to Tom Ford and his fragrance Oud Wood.

It’s amazing how a rich dark scent can take you to the place before time rendered delicate changes and sifted in harsh realities. I stood at the Macy’s counter just breathing it in. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to relive those memories of good times, dancing in the clubs of New York in the very early ’80s. I might have to buy a bottle just so I can periodically access that olfactory time machine and memorialize those memories of sublime uninhibited bliss. Maybe I will.