Still Life with Raccoon Skull and Wild Flowers

“Where do they go when they walk out and leave the body behind?”

― William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch

There’s a bit of land near my home that has fallen into disuse — a small patch of dirt, separated from the sidewalk by a ragged chainlink fence, that might once have served as the parking lot for some long defunct business. For a time someone was living in this space. Although his tent was set up only a few meters from a major thoroughfare, it was almost invisible from the sidewalk, concealed by tall grass and weeds. During the days he panhandled on a nearby corner. At night he camped amidst the rubbish.

The man disappeared some months ago — gone off to wherever it is people go when they leave a site like this. He left behind the usual detritus of human occupancy: pop bottles, beer cans, fast food wrappers. There are also stranger relics of his stay: a broken mini-fridge, an office chair, a dozen black plastic handles that have been unscrewed from fry pans.

The raccoon skull and wild flowers that comprise this vanitas still life arrangement were foraged from this interstitial space. The skull still smells exactly as it did the day when I found it, some months ago. Like damp earth; almost sweet.

There’s a word for this scent, it turns out. Petrichor.

The smell of rain after a long drought.