The Sweet (?) Smell Of Success (Poetry)

She trawled along the perfume counter
sampling each designer scent
eau de toilette in fancy bottles
nostrils primed and keenly bent

on sniffing out a smell so lethal
no man on earth would stand a chance
she’d slay them — they would all be panting
come next week’s annual dinner-dance

She tested all — felt disappointed
so few seemed worth their costly price
and even less proved that enticing
pleasant maybe — passing nice

But nothing grabbed or bowled her over
her credit card stayed unseduced
the cloud surrounding sweet and sickly
a mix of all those squirts produced

In her hair and on her clothing
clung that strange addictive scent
a trail that wafted undiminished
broadcast everywhere she went

And soon stray pooches in the district
homed-in on that blissful smell
though what it said in canine language
no one but a dog could tell

Through the streets like a pied piper
she led the glad tail-wagging throng
by reputation loyal and faithful
a dog’s devotion is lifelong

Adopting all — she gave them shelter
with pets much easier to please
than homo sapiens so fickle
her new best friend’s a Pekingese