Poetry | Etymology
Your Scent Rises From The Pores of the Soil
The Wonder of Petrichor
Published in
Oct 28, 2020
One of my favorite words is petrichor, which is the smell of rain falling on dry earth.
I confess I’m a bit of an etymology geek.
This word comes from the Greek petra (πέτρα), “rock”, or petros (πέτρος), “stone”, and īchōr (ἰχώρ), the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. (Wikipedia)
Imagine that.
“the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods”
Maybe that’s why the smell is so attractive to me. It’s fascinating to read about how petrichor is created.
Geosmin is a compound from plants that is absorbed into the pores of the soil.
When it rains, air from the pores forms small bubbles, which float to the surface and release aerosols, which carry the scent of geosmin.
The freshness of the outdoor air lingers on my lover's skin.
