Synesthesia

Lexical Gustatory Synesthesia 

Sounds like a tongue twister in itself.

How curious, that the very name of this condition 

As lengthy and twisted as it is

Is as dull to my tongue as the condition is not.

It fails to make my taste buds tingle 

Evokes no smell in my twisted senses.

Like an old married couple

That understands each other a bit too well,

Or freakishly synced twins,

Who experience everything the same, 

From an itch to every thought 

All synced in some bizarre way...

Taste buds and ear drums 

Nerve endings going insane...

Screaming out coded messages to one another

Some strange sort of twisted relationship that works anyway.

Synesthesia can only be described as an oxymoron 

A confused understanding.

Try, if you will, to imagine...

Tasting deliciousness when you hear a familiar language

Speech ends, 

Mouth watering, intense craving that is now very real

Hoping the phantom taste 

Would turn real too.

Hearing a melody every time 

You see something as mundane as a zebra crossing 

Or the feel of pintucks on a fabric

Sounds so intense, they make you emotional. 

Smelling the sound of your loved one's name 

As an unpleasant stench 

So much that you'd consider a nickname more appealing. 

Imagine every number and letter, 

And every word you heard 

Each in its own little colour coded compartment, 

Like buttons and beads sorted into drawers by colour in some crowded tailor shop.

Or the simple, soul stiring experience

Of hearing a particular melody could feel like a fascinating walk

Through a multi dimensional art gallery 

Or like floating through dark skies with letters and numbers flying smoothly past your head.

And the sound of your name 

Looks like marvellously chaotic turquoise and indigo swirls 

Floating in space speckled with white dots and dashes of purple. 

What looks to me like gibberish 

Made perfect and artistic sense 

To another just like me.

©️ Rebecca Manari 

24-1-21