Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste: the light sweet sour of fresh pomegranate Touch: the crisp, smooth-sided, fluid-filled packets with slim seeds inside Smell: a room cloyed with cinnamon potpourri Sight: shades of blue across the darkening winter sky and the silhouettes of fir trees Sound: "Because he's a Spartan!", "And in the sequel they start a punk rock band.", a male quipping in the row ahead, making his girlfriend laugh Extra: The Sleeping Gypsy by Henri Rousseau. A self-taught artist Rousseau started painting in his forties to critical review. The jungle scenes he’s best known for are works of pure imagination. His sources were illustrated books and visits to the zoo and botanical gardens in Paris; These three gray hairs appeared in grad school, his own teaching high school English.

Taste: sugar coconut, sugar peanut butter, sugar dark chocolate, sugar milk chocolate, sugar butter, sugared cashews, peanuts, and almonds. It's all sweet, sweet. Touch: slip feet and torque knees walking downhill on snow and ice Smell: winter, ice water, tinged with a faint odor of earth Sight: crème and burgundy red on a winter wedding dress; a small crème house with burgundy shutters on the same street Sound: the stream trickles at the bottom of the cliff through the snow; a voice flat and slow and absent of pride ("I was part of that.") versus a voice high pitched enthusiastic; "On the day it came out, all of my friends were reading Harry Potter instead of hanging out with me; on my 18th birthday." said the (male) barista (I want to say barister, close to a judge.) Extra: Keep doing the things you want to be able to do, this includes walking and raising your arms overhead; "The idea of the elephant is imperishable." artist Gregory Colbert...

Taste: melted butter on oats with maple syrup Touch: the edges of ears burning and then becoming numb, cold below 32 degrees, freezing Smell: exhaust, clogged and foul, the scent that colors the buses black on snowy days Sight: paws tucked together, muzzle upturned, fuzzy belly open, ears cocked; she sleeps on a sweater of love Sound: water trickling under the snow-covered bush; Carol Guess' Tinderbox Lawn, "Nebraska has cakes slathered in icing so thick bakers drown at birthdays." and "Dropped it on the dresser in the bowl I made: a terrible mistake in clay, afraid as I was of earth, of spinning, of the mad mad wheel." www.rosemetalpress.com Extra: when the planet is unusually covered in white crystals the people pack them into three balls (sometimes two or four), largest on the bottom, smallest on top, they make dolls outside of their homes to watch over them, they use root vegetables for noses, branches for limbs, and wrap them in some of their clothi...

Taste: rosemary, walnut and salt Touch: the way a face contracts the lips tighten, the tongue protrudes, a lush's anticipation; feeling the expression from the inside, when he held up the wine bottle Smell: a perfumed shoulder Sight: translucent gel, wet and shiny, glistening a faerie mucus; two walkways to the house connected by a stretch of shoveled sidewalk, the working class man shovels his own and the diabetic woman's walk - in snowshoes without the need for her walker today; the sparkling crystals of snow soft and fluttering like mirabou or angora Sound: the squeaky scrunch, scrunch of the snow, the snap of a branch Extra: changing seasons and the weather; winter, solstice

Taste: nutty and bitter brown foods; whole wheat couscous, chick peas, almond slivers Touch: his hand falls lightly on my gloved one Smell: roasted apple Sight: bright on bright, the white mountains spiking into the blue sky; dark on dark, the faintly green evergreen trees spiking into the faintly blue night sky, a few stars; the people on the train carry electronic gadgets, they are shiny, their gadgets and their rings, and shoes they wear brown and black scarves and coats and sturdy boots, if I were returning after two years in Africa and waiting for the plane to Seattle at the airport in London I would recognize them as my people, also headed to my home, I would see them and be grateful for their unspoken, indifferent, companionship. We are in a love that requires no expression. Sound: the train groaning slowly on the icy rails makes a sound like Gregorian monks choir; tingly light shimmering sliver bells; punk music in the coffee shop; a Theremin plays Auld Lang Syne in the...

Taste: cracked pepper on grilled tofu with cilantro and sweet, bitter coconut juice Touch: his cold forehead, the bed is shaking with his fever Smell: grilling sesame oil Sight: coconut juice is clear with a touch of cloudy miasma like a milky eye; the restaurant is filled with Vietnamese laborers with pock marked skin; the cashier has brightly colored ink sleeves, he speaks perfect English; the sandwich costs only $3.50 Sound: the squeegee, groan, groan, of the windshield wipers Extra: strangeness, what is foreign, anything new or not often experienced, new, tastes, smells, sights, canisters of things to buy your mother never purchased, it may be in a shop down the street from where you work, where people you do not know go everyday; What is American— It is 3:30 a.m. on a rainy night in winter, the temperature hovers at 33 degrees, there is a skiff of snow against the windshield. My husband has awoken with chills. I drive to the neighborhood grocery store. The streets are empty...

Taste: onion and cranberry Touch: hot sliding beads of metal like a snake Smell: From memory: White Shoulders, a city packed with lilies, mother getting ready for a night out, looking more definite, more distinct in make-up and evening wear, stronger and more artificial like her perfume Sight: it has rounded back and pink paws, it is black above and gray below, it is larger than a cat and smaller than a raccoon, it scurries with a listing movement wobbling like a ship at sea, it is fearsome, startling and creepy, one imagines pointed snout, sharp teeth and beady gleaming eyes: opossum Sound: "I like the way bread tears." A long silence, a demonstration, a follow up explanation. "It twists, clings and stretches." Extra: Web links and how we are interwoven

Taste: Coconut Bliss, as if ice cream in a dark chocolate flavor Touch: bulk: wool jacket over wool jacket with a wool wrap thrown over and a swaddled scarf Smell: moist cumin and onion broth: a pot of beans cooking in a house on a cold day Sight: the furred side of the dog heaving in dream woofs; the fogged window of the house where the people often cook a pot of beans, it frames a golden lit Christmas tree so the window looks flocked Sound: schmaltz, melodrama, I am being soft rocked , the Irish Menudo — Celtic Thunder Extra: participation, volunteerism, a truly participatory government, how small communities become from the inside; Questions: what is popular? what is art?

Taste: lime and salt on a thin, crisp tortilla chip Touch: the inside of the pocket of my red wool coat thick deep felt Smell: cloves, Djarum cigarettes Sight: the spilt screen sky, half gunmetal gray with a tear of clouds across and a blue brightening side, the ripple of clouds is a neon pink and then a cashmere yellow Sound: bike brakes, the homeless men ride by Extra: the effort it takes to communicate, the number of unhappy people, the contagion of happiness, playing a game and knowing who played which card and which I will pick--very strong deja vu, returning a lost dog, an upper lip massage in a dream

Taste: garlic, leeks, shallots, onion Touch: rough, dry, spiky, hard, bark, pinecone, cracked feet Smell: fresh cut lumber on an autumn night the planks wait to build shelter, a home on a city street Sight: purple potatoes, green brussel sprouts, orange yams: Thanksgiving; swollen red and blue diabetic ankles; yellow jaundiced skin and eyes Sound: an impact, explosion, metal on metal, mutes other sounds — bam: a rear end collison, the old man in the pickup, "My foot slipped off the clutch."; System of a Down, Toxicity, punk, Prison System Extra: out of sight, out of mind: poverty and prison. The semantic difference in perception created by the variation in phrases "homeless man" and "man without a home". The once homeless woman has earned her Ph.D. It costs $39,772 to put one man in prison for one year at the Monroe Correctional Complex , five prisons located on 365 acres southeast of Everett. The Washington Department of Corrections confines nearly...