Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste: anise/absinthe, Pacifique Absinthe made in Woodinville Sight: granny sitting in the little red sidecar; unhealthy appearances: the gray cast to her anemic skin, her yellow skin and eyes showing liver damage; twisted blooming heart trees, artist James W. Sutherland Touch: dancing knees Sound: wetland frogs, bare feet pad across linoleum Smell: anise-licorice-absinthe Extra: noesis, noesis — thinking about thinking; Do you remember when we saw the Buddha on the beach? Sympatico.

Taste: bitter, sweet, sour, salty celery Sight: the arch of the harp and her fingers plucking across it; seven long bright orange carrots in a bunch with wavy green tops, on top a yellow pepper; a pure white long-haired Borzoi with a harp-shaped muzzle Touch: dancing with arms held in a harp shape Sound: harps and harmony — "Jellyfish" by Elizabeth Markell, the small women's choir of voices Smell: fermented soy and eggs; cheap Tinkerbell nail polish sweet-scented poison; the yoga man smells like coconut oil Extra: shooting through the air like a rocket, spotting collies on the farmland below; letting go: flight instead of fight; ekstasis — stepping out of the norm (and the human need to do so on occasion); "Attention!", Aldous Huxley's Island

Taste: orange lemon honey mango Sight: air so dense as to make shadows, wisps of heat rising, orange; beet red; my toes touching the sky Touch: muslin face, my face feels like muslin; the splits, the lower back Sound: a dulcet voice issuing directions Smell: wet plastic; roasting salt, oil sweet beets, carrots, and squash Extra: to able to do the splits and touch my toes; unable to sing

Taste: sweet cider, creamed corn, tart wheat light amber hops, strong sweet hops made by Westmalle Tripel, Lindemans Cuvee Rene Oude Gueuze: sour vinegar and apple, molasses imperial Samuel Smith stout — a flight of beer a flight of beer from Yorkshire, Flanders, Barvaria at BaleFire ; jammy wine Sight: three undulate in a circle suspended in air: blue, two move in unity in a circle suspended in air: yellow; one dances inside a circle which flows over the floor suspending her: pink; a pink boa; strongmen lift each other and a strobing flashing cube — Cirque Sublime Touch: sitting on a plump couch Sound: Chairlift, "Bruises," Does You Inspire You ; Tool, "Sober," Undertow Smell: dust burning — a disused heater Extra: drinkable books — the wines made from unusual grapes are "...like drinking your favorite book." in Neal Stephenson's Anathem