All 4 Senses
By Annie C., Fredericksburg, VA
I’d like these words to be touched
So that you feel the soft shape of the “S”
The perfectly smooth “O”
The angular “A”
To run the fabric of these words through
Your hands
I’d like you to roll these words around
In your mouth like a wine connoisseur
Lick them off your fingers
Catching their dripping vowels
And let these words resonate
Like a bow dragged across a deep bellied
Cello. Sonorous.
Let them buzz through your head like
A catchy song you can’t get rid of
I want these words to enter your
Nasal passages and cause you to
Violently sneeze
Like a hound; follow them until you find
The source: a foreign smell, a crinkling-
In-disgust smell, that kid-you-knew-in-
eighth-grade smell.
But I do not want you to see these words
Because they are just lines written
In disposable pen
I really wish you wouldn’t just look at these
Words,
But feel them
Rub them between your index and your thumb
Scratch and sniff them
Plug them into your stereo
Pop them in your mouth like candy
But do all of this blindly
Illiterately
So that your senses may be
Sharpened.
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