Economic growth is a perfume in the making.
Its top notes—consumption, sudden windfalls—
sparkle and vanish like citrus in the morning air.
Its heart notes—education, technology, roads—
give body and direction, fragile yet full of promise.
Its base notes—institutions, justice, human dignity—
anchor the fragrance, enduring beyond a single age.
But without fixatives of law and fairness,
the scent dissolves;
without carriers of trade and shared culture,
it never spreads.
And when shocks arrive—financial crises, pandemics, conflict—
a nation must rely on reserves, wise rules,
and resilience that keeps it standing,
like a fragrance that endures even in the wind.
Rumi whispers: “Patience is seeing far ahead
with a calm heart.”
So let growth be more than a passing mist—
let it ripen with time,
until it becomes the fragrance of prosperity
that lingers in memory.
Images from Michael Dziedzic and openclipart