[stylist] Perception Pantoum

[Jacqueline Williams]

Barbara,
You have hit my mark because of your detailed account of synesthesia. We
have studied about it in my poetry class, but no one came up with such a
comprehensive picture of it-and in poetry yet!
Good work.
Jackie

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Barbara
Hammel
Sent: Sunday, March 24, 2013 8:18 PM
To: stylist at nfbnet.org
Subject: [stylist] Perception Pantoum

Here is my first attempt at writing a pantoum.  (And I didn't even make it
rhyme.  Though I may try my hand at that sometime for a REAL challenge.)
Barbara

    PERCEPTION PANTOUM

 By Barbara Hammel



The experts call it synesthesia,

When the senses join together.

For me it's colored words and numbers.

My alphabet is rainbow-hued.



When the senses join together

Some folks have colored taste or sound.

My alphabet is rainbow-hued,

Plus days, months and some numbers, too.



Some folks have colored taste or sound,

Others see words or names in hues,

Plus days, months and some numbers, too.

Some even feel shaped sound or taste.



Others see words or names in hues,

As balls or spirals or lines.

Some even feel shaped sound or taste

With real texture and dimension.



As balls or spirals or lines

Of colors or just in shades,

With real texture and dimension,

Inside or outside the body.



Of colors or just in shades,

We'd be lost without this gift.

Inside or outside the body,

Our mingling senses join.



We'd be lost without this gift,

For me it's colored words and numbers.

Our mingling senses join.

The experts call it synesthesia.



Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance. -- Carl Sandburg