Shel Graves' Sensorium

Habitat: brown cherry tree leaves all over; a thick black peacoat Taste : water chestnuts Sound: barking Sight: brown leaves; Cooper's Hawk Touch: a curved back, pain Smell: bandages Extra: injury, a disruption Grateful for: medical care

Habitat: dark, cold, vertical spaces, cushions, pillows, soft pajamas Taste: lime cookie, butter; spiced breads and wines Sound: cat scratching Sight: eye goop, blobs of greenish yellow Touch: her soft throat Smell: dust burning, the heaters going on Extra: shivering sick in a bed in a gothic mansion in a haunted room, "Morpheus! Morpheus!" Grateful for: warmth

Habitat: smoke season and rain at last, driving in the dark and rain, smoke fog versus rain fog Taste: curry Sound: a low growl; dancing toes, tippety-tap Sight: shaking with fear; red, yellow, brown; seeds broken open Touch: the ball of Lily, roundness Smell: f resh catnip Extra: A hotel inhabited by menacing ghosts. Do you know my name? Eustace.; going out for a fine dinner paid for by an employer; taking Lily shopping, riding an elevator with Lily, guessing cake flavors; I am loud and not afraid to speak my mind. Grateful for: Woo Girl and Tiny Dancer; pleasant dreams

Habitat: dryness, fallen leaves, fallen yellow and brown laurel leaves, the smoky sky, a warm hazy October; the neighbor's yellow house, my green writing room Taste: pepper and herbs Sound: dog sneezing, dog chewing Sight: a stack of books Touch: the cushioned chair, blankets Smell: apple candle; roast potatoes Extra: the unfulfilled expectation of coolness; marathon runners at the riverfront park; " Mending Wall " by Robert Frost and "Good fences make good neighbors"  Grateful for: home

Habitat: sunny, rainless, windless October; brambles of branches, creating new habitats and destroying them Taste: russet potatoes Sound: traffic, a dull roar Sight: horses, Herd movie Touch: Tish versus Lily, silky versus coarse Smell: bergamot, bergamot (Earl Grey) tea Extra: kinds of potatoes: Shetland Black, Yukon Gold Grateful for: classmates and teachers, sending love

Habitat: river gorges, dams, raptors, hawks, owls, prairie lands, deer Taste: raspberries, diet coke and sweet chili Doritos, weak coffee Sound: water boiling in the kettle Sight: raspberries, the red bumpy fruits; the enormous moon burning yellow and low in the sky Touch: Lily's ears, Lily's chest Smell: Mabon, coffee, vanilla, bergamot Extra: my heart Grateful for: an exquisitely written book; a stack of books

Habitat : the red sun, the red moon; the dry, brown, flattened grass; the tiny bird; playful squirrels ; low hanging fog making the invisible (spiders' webs) visible Taste: a bean and potato breakfast burrito Sound: trilling, chirping; ducks nibbling on the wet mud Sight: the bright green indoor-grown wheatgrass Touch: laying on the lawn; a tweaked muscle, not being able to raise a leg or lie flat; her head placed on my neck Smell: a pumpkin spice candle Extra: the gap sometimes between the way things are and the way I would like them to be Grateful for: a quiet, green, writing room

Habitat: the orange sun, the yellow moon, the smokey hazy orange-yellow sky; the farm sanctuary; the many trees from all over the world; the grasses Taste: arugula; pumpkin ale Sound: Sam's voice Sight: EMTs, crisp black uniforms; the dried brown grass; the brown fallen leaves Touch: soft, spongy, the dog's fat sides and ruff Smell: bandages Extra: connection and wholeness; calmness from bliss and calmness from shock; panic-Lily lost hidden in the backyard and only appears for her emergency recall "brrp" from somewhere unknown, perhaps beneath the stack of dead branches where some other animal has also crawled Grateful for: a beautifully written book

Habitat: Red Clover, earth, soil, worms, rocks Taste: a chocolate cupcake, dense and sweet Sound: the thump of death, running over a squirrel Sight: Red Clover; Amethyst Cluster, Labradorite, Quartz, Rose Quartz, Aventurine, Citrine, Jasper, Tiger eye  Touch: dense, oily, the stick to the mouth; heft and weight; smoothness  Smell: Black Forest and Quoth the Raven; cat box Extra: reflections Grateful for: rituals, teachers, and Sarah

Habitat: the threatened horse-chestnut tree, the vine maple, the Chilean Rhubarb, the Canary Islands Ivy Taste: sparkling water which has lost its sparkle Sound: birdsong, puppy barks Sight: a +CER to leash-grabbing; the many miles of pavement it takes to get to mom's house; the darkness Touch: the cold Smell: Quoth the Raven Extra: "It's a beautiful day."; invisible worlds: beneath the surface of creeks, lakes, streams and the incarcerated and inside factories Grateful for: my friends doing good work as art docents, on the sustainability committee, legislators who care about the environment - may they be well and strong, may they be confident, may they be at ease, may they be playful, may they be safe

Habitat: dried leaves  Taste: mild; bulgar Sound: Wilderness Bears; comforting voices Sight: Wilderness Bears; blue sky and sunshine Touch: fluffy and smooth Smell: Black Forest Extra: Blessings Grateful for: books, dogs, cats, and Sam; comforting voices