I grew up with the smell of wet dogs

I grew up with the smell of wet dogs

the smell of a wet school (woollen) jumper

the smell of mud

but we didn't have a special name for that

I grew up with the smell of pigs

dry grass cut and baled

musty haystacks, tractor smoke

smell of burning after bushfire

The summer of the bad fires

all we could smell was burnt flesh

cows and sheep rotting in the ditches

landscapes painted black

Walking to the school bus

it was the smell of oil on the road

petrol fumes mixed with bottlebrush flowers

the smell of manure on the garden

Sea salt spray, battered against my face

whale watching from the platform

the smell of seaweed, pungent

sand gripping every surface

The smell of cows hide steaming

early morning dew drying

as 200 bodies brushed together

the smell of milk and cow feed

What smells did you grow up with

how did you name them

this morning my son asks

'Do you know what the smell of rain is called?'

Petrichor.