Irwin populates the dreamscape in “My Father’s Hats” with specific plants. The forest the boy envisions in his father’s closet is not just a forest. It is a pine forest after a rainstorm (Lines 7-8). The wind sings hymns, and the ground still smells “musky” from the “rain clinging” to it (Lines 6-8).

While Irwin does not identify the tree later in the poem, he clarifies that it produces “yellow fruit” and “leaves” that smell like “a clove” (Lines 14-15).

Through these images, Irwin creates specificity. Specifics inform a reader about the boy’s personality and paternal bond. In the forest, the trees grow, the earth changes texture in the rain, and fruit grows that the boy wants to touch. When the boy layers a forest over his father’s hats, he shows he associates his father with growth and curiosity.

Sense of smell plays a vital role in “My Father’s Hats” as it is the speaker’s main way to recognize his father.

Despite feeling the hats, Irwin does not vividly describe the hats visually. Their “soft crowns…bands, leather,” and “inner silk” are the most visual and tactile traits he gives (Lines 5, 10).

Instead, smell propels the poem’s arc, guiding the reader to each critical moment.