synaesthesia
In one of the most common forms of synesthesia, individual letters of the alphabet and numbers (collectively referred to as "graphemes") are "shaded" or "tinged" with a colour ~ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
Since I was a child, I have experienced synaesthesia (crossed senses). Letters, words, names, people and places ring with colour, shapes, textures and taste. Many of my poems and stories reflect this phenomena.
SENSUS - MY NUMBER SIX
Nought’s transparent howl lingers
as the kids one to five play
with fire, crayons and cymbals
Boy-blue and his jaded sister are
constantly at sixes and sevens;
while the righteous brother
carves precise figures in ice
— knowing he will be ate before
nine exudes her yellow-golden fecundity
Ringing metallic blue at noon
shimmering against a forever azure sky
even-tempered, balanced on a circle’s curl
six is boyish, positive and gentle
divides fairly
multiplies readily — and with logic
Green and mean — in her prime
Lady Luck to some
— a deadly sin to others —
odd, straight and narrow
seven, the older sister, points at six
yet leans
towards eight, the perfect brother,
so symmetrical with his sienna sheen
In an eternal line stretching
from the Hindu-Arabic sands
to a digital diorama,
or reversed
on an infinite circle of time,
nought to ten are together bound by concept
— dislocated, reconfigured, calculated
their numerous kin define
and redefine reality’s abstract nature
Although not a product of the imagination, synaesthesia does give testimony to a product of the brain and an appreciation for where poetic imagination may arise in our minds. Synaesthesia is far from being an ‘intellectual act’, although it can certainly be the stuff from which creative dreams are made. An appreciation of the synaesthete’s world, particularly those who make their synaesthetic visions public, can help explain the eureka sensation of insight or the exhilaration of being seized by the creative muse. For a handful of artists, synaesthesia is the creative fuel for creative transformation. Artists have always claimed a more direct perception of the world, a directness that is characterised, for one, by the synaesthetic percept ~ Richard E. Cytowic
SUMMER SYNAESTHESIA
Drought bleached word
tasting of an earthen hue
echoing emptiness
mouth the word
hear a moan a lament
a plea
the parched letters evoke dry dust
mimic the howling wind
perhaps ‘t’ offers a slight hope of moisture
ochre’s translucent summer craves water
rivers thirst while oranges wither
sprinklers are hushed forbidden
a lorikeet perches briefly
on the decimated cactus
before shrieking its discontent
crisp leaves dance
whirl to the dry wind
the rain-gods are tempted
rain
even the word looks unfamiliar
r a i n