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