Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste: dewdrops Sight: cherry blossoms; the great white lilies were in flower; silvered with dew; "unwearied as a freshly- opened passion-flower" Sound: jocose snuffle Smell: incense; dew; cherry blossom-delicate, sweet Touch: delicate, wet; oval, palm Quotable:  "Mrs. Cadwallader said, privately, 'You will certainly go mad in that house alone, my dear.  You will see visions. We have all got to exert ourselves a little to stay sane, and call things by the same names as other people call them by." Extra: divine scheme; anxiety dream; a basement apartment flooding, a stream of cats; ardent souls Grateful for: Pasado's A jolt of joy: dog on lap

Taste : cognac Sight: great walnut boughs Sound: shaking his bridle; mud bubbles; rushing creek Smell: hay-ricks, rich old garden  Touch: bristles Quotable: "But how little we know what would make paradise for our neighbours!"  "...for inherent in true art is emancipation./And do you have worlds within yourself? Indeed./The night sky a microcosm of you./The oil lit in the lamp the sun burns from/forests you once were, from rich deposits you left." — A Child's Mere Pencil Sketch, Hafiz Grateful for: spring A jolt of joy: a twitching nose

Taste: mayo and sprouts Sight: buff-colored waistcoat Sound: the note of a cuckoo, parrot-like; Camden; Featherstone Smell: Ostara, grass Touch: light heart Extra: a fun house, a rollercoaster ride, a horror show; horror dream of making meatloaf of carving regenerating dog's bodies A jolt of joy: a fine May morning Grateful for: the Green Dragon

Taste: mint leaves Sight: looking into the eye of the animal Sound: tail fwaps Smell:  wet spring grass Touch: bruised heart; velvet; pinfold, release; furry Quotable:   "She longed for work which would be directly beneficent like sunshine and rain, and now it appeared she was to live more and more in a virtual tomb..."  "Let Mrs. Casaubon do as she likes...She wants perfect freedom, I think, more than any other prescription."  "It is surely better to pardon too much, than condemn too much."  "But what we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope."     Extra: "Books were of no use. Thinking was of no use."; we moved to a new house and left behind the cat...the new house smaller but not as good, regret A jolt of joy: sunshine Grateful for: green spaces

Taste: lettuces Sight: fire-breathing dragons; "...where the sunlight fell broadly under the budding boughs, bringing out the beauties of moss and lichen, and fresh green growths piercing the brown."; "... pleasant to see as the breaking of sunshine on the water..."; purple round Sound: hiss; merry; planes and explosions Smell: violet and sea mist Touch: soft furry head Quotable: "...there was something so exquisite in thinking of her just as she was..."; "He looked like an incarnation of the spring whose spirit filled the air--a bright creature abundant in certain promises." "She was always trying to be what her husband wished, and never able to repose upon his delight in what she was."  Extra: "Even in 1831 Lowick was at peace..." A jolt of joy: tails Grateful for: spring and little dogs

Taste: gingerbread Sight: magnolia spires, April morning light; a troop of droll children; cherry-coloured Sound: humming; "Fiddlestick!"; tinkering; nettled; ring the bell' "Poor Rosy!" Smell: sweet and burnt cashew milk Touch: sharp Quotable:  "...and the easily stirred rebellion in him helped the glow of public spirit."  "Disputation is not amusing to cherubs." Extra: "a feeling of romance in his position"; rottenness A jolt of joy: a quick response to "Leave it!" and her expectant look Grateful for: safety

Taste: coconut curry Sight: avalanche; transparent skin Sound: tatters, thunder, wind Smell: grass Touch: tatters; breath Quotable: "...and in the general dearth of admiration for the right thing, even a chance bray of applause falling exactly in time is rather fortifying." Extra: machine-breaking and general distress; jejune A jolt of joy: winning Grateful for: game day; an excellent story

Taste: peach Sight: whitened bones Sound: melodious sea-breezes; "The cousins at Quallingham may go to the devil!" Smell: Ostara Touch: the weight of her head upon my neck Quotable: "Since we cannot get what we like, let us like what we can get." "You have to believe we are magic Nothing can stand in our way You have to believe we are magic Don't let your aim ever stray"  Extra: in a movie theater with the dogs awaiting a show and a parade of children A jolt of joy: the furry three Grateful for: the furry three

Taste: ginger, rhubarb, tahini --an exceptional waffle; tart, sour Sight: whip the fog Sound: simmering S mell: ground coffee Touch: a taut leash Quotable:  "A man conscious of enthusiasm for worthy aims is sustained under petty hostilities by the memory of great workers who had to fight their way not without wounds, who hover in his mind as patron saints, invisibly helping." Extra: coffee and chaos; a bread-scented candle A jolt of joy: tail wagging Grateful for: home