I Am Synesthete

Kush · Post by **Kush** » Mon Aug 18, 2003 4:23 am

I am Synesthete

I see the colors of your voice clearly
You talk of war and peace
They are flaming crimson and brilliant white
I pray their brightness may someday fade.

I touch the many shapes of your smell
That ancient sense, now wedded to the newer
They are as shards of glass, jagged
In triangles and higher chaotic dimensions.

I taste the salty visions
Of lonely people screaming in their lonely towers
Of mighty death machines
Even of slave ships a long time gone.

I do not perceive the world as you
I am but one in twenty five thousand, then mostly woman
My senses joined, my wires crossed
My limbic brain overwhelmed.

But I am not Poet. This
No poet's metaphor
No tinted prism
I am Synesthete.

*Synesthesia is a neurological condition

George.Wright · Post by **George.Wright** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 10:54 am

I like this poem, Kush
Georges

Kush · Post by **Kush** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 3:55 pm

Thanks Georges....much appreciated.

Paula · Post by **Paula** » Tue Aug 19, 2003 4:01 pm

I really liked this poem. I glad you told us what it was about because it reminded me of senile dementia and the thoughts that might go thru the mind of someone suffering from it.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 3:43 am

First, I was very surprized to see a contribution from you in the poetry section, Kush.

Second, I enjoyed your poem immensely.

Third, it reminded me of something of which I wonder if you're aware. I heard a segment on NPR perhaps two years ago that talked about a tendency with very high IQ/geniuses, for the five senses to interchange amongst themselves in the person's perceptions of them. Don't know how well that convoluted sentence conveys what I mean. If it doesn't, let me know and I'll try restating it.

Fourth, I'm wondering if you're describing how someone else [whom you know] perceives reality, or if this is a condition you have/have had yourself? Very interesting expressions of it.

~ Lizzytysh

Paula · Post by **Paula** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 3:43 pm

Kush I looked the condition up on the net. It is one of the most horrifying conditons I could imagine. It must be like being on a perpetual trip. The mind is a fragile thing and I would not like to be trapped with that condition.

Kush · Post by **Kush** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 7:35 pm

Paula & Lizzytysh....thank you for the comments.
No... I have never myself experienced or known anybody who did. Real life is far more mundane...I merely heard about this a while ago and read an article on it. What you say about the NPR program may have been something similar to this but I don't know about the genius IQ bit.
Richard Cytowic has written the book The Man Who Tasted Shapes. I havent read the book myself but I've read a much shorter article by Cytowic.
Perhaps the best known synesthete is Vladimir Nabokov....he complained as a kid that the colors of his wooden alphabet blocks were all wrong coz' the wooden blocks were of one color and the alphabets themselves were eliciting a different color sensation in his mind.
Here is the amazon.com link to Cytowic's book...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... =books&st=*

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Wed Aug 20, 2003 8:45 pm

Kush ~

The NPR segment did not mention the hellish aspects that Paula alludes to and that your poem's lines include. It appears to be a case of "similar, but not quite." However, I did find the similarities interesting, particularly in relationship to the higher IQ'd/geniuses amongst us. Unlike, the "Diamond" piece, I'll check out the link you've provided. Thanks. Very thoughtful/sensitive poem that you've created regarding/related to this condition. I always appreciate it when someone steps outside their own world, and attempts to view the world through the eyes [and in your case, the other senses] of another. You appear to have done very well, not having any personal experience[s] with it.

~ Lizzytysh

Paula · Post by **Paula** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 12:58 am

I think the fact that I think the symptoms are horrendous is relative. I think the mind is such a fragile thing and perhaps some people might actually enjoy suffering a condition like this (and I have only read a small amount about it on one site).
http://www.jb004a9668.pwp.blueyonder.co ... thesia.htm

I watched someone I loved lose themself into dementia and the slow decline stays with you forever.

I originally thought the poem was about dementia I knew it wasn't about Alzheimer's as one of the symptoms of that is loss of sense of taste.

Any illness that affects the mind frightens me because there but for the grace of God go I.

Kush · Post by **Kush** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 1:34 am

That's a very nice article....thanks for the link Paula. It seems there is a confusion about the numbers (as is usual in such cases)....I've seen 3 sets so far. The mysteries of the mind is endlessly fascinating but can be scary for those directly affected.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 4:14 am

I agree with you on the scarey aspects, Paula, and that it could be, and may end up being, me. We just never know. Watching the dementia aspects of Parkinson's was, likewise, unsettling and confusing. Never knowing for sure when someone is with you and when they're not. I haven't gotten the sense from either you or Kush that enjoying such a condition is actually a possibility, but until I read more, who knows?

Kush · Post by **Kush** » Thu Aug 21, 2003 7:01 am

Paula....have you seen the movie 'Awakenings' with Robert De Niro. Please see it if you havent....it is based on true events. You should be able to get it in a local DVD/video store.

Paula · Post by **Paula** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 12:20 am

Hi Kush - I have seen "Awakenings" I think. Is it the one concerning people with petrified bodies and active minds?

It was on the telly a while ago and after the film was shown they showed some original footage of people with this weird condition in their natural state and after they were given the medication they could move again.

It is a while since I have seen the film and if you didn't know this was an actual phenomenon you would have thought it was just another sci-fi type film.

I must get the film out to see it again as I have forgotten what drug was used in the end to get them out of their "catatonic" state. Didn't it all go pear shaped in the end though?

Lizzie I didn't know Parkinson also presented with dementia. There were a couple of really bad aspect of dementia which were very hard to deal with. The main one being the interim period between lucidity and dementia until full dementia had taken hold and then the fact that the person you care about doesn't know who you are. The sad thing is dementia doesn't kill the body it just kills the mind. People with dementia can still live their full life expectancy but I lost this person when the dementia set in totally. It is very sad to watch someone who is aware they are losing the plot and it is a blessing when dementia is total. Well that is my opinion anyway.

lizzytysh · Post by **lizzytysh** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 5:13 am

Yes, Paula, Parkinsons can manifest with the physical symptoms, or with mental symptoms [dementia]. It can also manifest with both. My Dad had both. Yes, also, I agree that the interim is most painful for them [and others] to deal with, as they watch their own life slipping away. The reality of Alzheimer's patients being able to live for another 10+ years only adds to the pain, as they are unable to function on their own physically, due to the dementia, yet remain healthy enough to live what would otherwise be a full life. It's a rock and a hard place for both the patient and the caregiver/loved one. I can tell you know.

Kush · Post by **Kush** » Fri Aug 22, 2003 4:27 pm

Yes...that's the one with De Niro and Robin Williams. The author of the book is Oliver Sacks and it was based on real experiences. Sacks is a leading authority on mental health and has written numerous books for general public.
Parkinson's, Huntington's Chorea (Woody guthrie died of it) and mental health are connected coz' the same neurochemical is involved in all.
If you do a search on Sacks on amazon.com you can find a lot of books on various topics.