Skittles and Popsicles
Synesthesia tastes the laughter of her childhood:
Skittles and Popsicles in the heat of the summer-
Summer love. That boy.
The movie drive-in with his shiny red slicked back convertible. His Dad’s.
Old time movie: poor quality, black and white.
A cross country move. Long distance. Heartbreak. Regret.
Movie ends.
The color of her childhood f a d e s
She is growing tired, limp, lifeless. Adult.
Getting older still. Miserable. Closed heart. Grey.
Grey pepper. Pepper and Salt.
Now it’s several years before she reencounters her deceased sister. Salty.
The Ocean: the familiar sensation of sand in her toes and water tickling through fingers.
Smell the blue sky and taste the clouds: so white, so pure, so abstract.
A red crab with a husky shell and beady eyes crosses her shadow.
The hotdog stand beckons her nose closer, closer, closer still.
Synesthesia tastes the sour lemon frolic of the sunshine.
Laughter of childhood demands her taste buds’ attention.
She turns and sees him. That boy.
Long grey hair, brittle and old, tumbling friskily in the wind.
Grey eyes transform to blue, breathing for the first time since childhood.
Blue eyes search the world with a new perspective.
Suddenly she is overwhelmed by the defining taste of Skittles and Popsicles.
Skittles and Popsicles in the heat of the summer-
Summer love. That boy.
The movie drive-in with his shiny red slicked back convertible. His Dad’s.
Old time movie: poor quality, black and white.
A cross country move. Long distance. Heartbreak. Regret.
Movie ends.
The color of her childhood f a d e s
She is growing tired, limp, lifeless. Adult.
Getting older still. Miserable. Closed heart. Grey.
Grey pepper. Pepper and Salt.
Now it’s several years before she reencounters her deceased sister. Salty.
The Ocean: the familiar sensation of sand in her toes and water tickling through fingers.
Smell the blue sky and taste the clouds: so white, so pure, so abstract.
A red crab with a husky shell and beady eyes crosses her shadow.
The hotdog stand beckons her nose closer, closer, closer still.
Synesthesia tastes the sour lemon frolic of the sunshine.
Laughter of childhood demands her taste buds’ attention.
She turns and sees him. That boy.
Long grey hair, brittle and old, tumbling friskily in the wind.
Grey eyes transform to blue, breathing for the first time since childhood.
Blue eyes search the world with a new perspective.
Suddenly she is overwhelmed by the defining taste of Skittles and Popsicles.
♠ ♠ ♠
Anesthesia is when none of the senses are functioning to their full potential or at all; Synesthesia is a condition where all the senses are heightened and many people can taste a color or a memory. It is actually quite amazing and everyone should be encouraged to look it up if they have never heard of it before.