Ablution
We all smell the same when we sweat. Some of us wash and some of us don’t.
Kay Sage
SourceLicence:Public domain (US, unrenewed)
We all smell the same when we sweat. Some of us wash and some of us don’t.
"Ablution" means a ritual or act of washing, and that word hangs over these few lines like a quiet joke. The speaker starts with something blunt and a little uncomfortable: everyone smells the same when they sweat. Bodies are bodies. Then the poem turns on a single, almost offhand split: some of us wash, and some of us don't.
What makes the poem interesting is how much it leaves unsaid. The speaker never judges anyone, yet the short lines and the lonely "don't" at the end carry a dry, deadpan edge. It reads as a wry observation about how little separates people, and how the one thing that does is a choice about cleanliness. The title hints at something larger, since washing is often tied to purification, but the poem keeps things plain and physical. The mood is cool, wry, and slightly teasing, with just enough room for you to wonder what else the speaker might mean.