Poem about synesthesia

I have synesthesia [syn' ess THEE ze uh]. It is a phenomena in which the senses and emotions blur. Color-grapheme synesthesia is one of the most common and indicates that when a person looks at a letter or number they also get a sense of color.

I wrote a poem about my experiences with healing and Psychological interaction. Here it is:

Emotion in Color

Alcatraz Island, notorious and cold
steel bars trap the souls of the restless
pacing, pounding, screaming through the walls
life in prison; is it life at all?

Synesthesia, complex and foreign
colors and patterns confuse the soul
hugs of criss-cross, orange and yellow
life in synesthesia; is it feeling at all?

sharing deserved in this moment of healing
auras in aquas and green
the eggshapes of color repel or combine
interaction is not what it seems

colors of letters stating their place
a whole other level of thought
denying is futile, embracing through pain
half-minded connection throughout

the lighthearted otter splashes with glee
waves of froth and droplets
splashing about one can't help but see
the otter's action and gloss

The woman was hurt and hasn't forgotten
aura tight and constricted
the waves of emotion are plain to see
chakras slow and energy twisted

is it my job to say what is seen?
to help this injured woman
aura is sad, interaction is dreadful
to live in the unseen

Synesthesia, complex and foreign
colors and patterns confuse
know the impossible, scaring my friends
the stories of loss and abuse

living in color and pattern and mess
ADHD, anxiety and stress
a healer from birth
a gift or a curse
emotion painted in air


[edit on 1-6-2009 by notreallyalive]

Thank you for posting that lovely poem, I really enjoyed reading it.
I've always wondered what it would be like to have synesthesia. I hope you don't mind if I ask you a few questions...
Is it something you've had since birth? Do your perceptions stay the same with an object, or does it change? for example...if you associate a certain word with the color blue, is it always blue? And how exactly does it work, do you see the color in your mind, is it just something you feel, or does it seem that you actually see it with your eyes? Do you do any visual art?
Ok, finally, the last question. Do you see auras?
Lol, sorry about that barrage of questions. I feel like I'm interrogating you.

Originally posted by Astrithr
Thank you for posting that lovely poem, I really enjoyed reading it.

I've always wondered what it would be like to have synesthesia. I hope you don't mind if I ask you a few questions...
Is it something you've had since birth? Do your perceptions stay the same with an object, or does it change? for example...if you associate a certain word with the color blue, is it always blue? And how exactly does it work, do you see the color in your mind, is it just something you feel, or does it seem that you actually see it with your eyes? Do you do any visual art?
Ok, finally, the last question. Do you see auras?
Lol, sorry about that barrage of questions. I feel like I'm interrogating you.

No worries, I don't mind questions =)

The earliest memory I have of synesthesia was when I asked my mother why the refrigerator magnet letters were the wrong color. I was about 3. I remember after talking it why they didn't "get someone who knows what color 'A' is." From what I've payed attention to, the letters remain the same, or sometimes one of two, colors consistently.

It honestly gives me a piercing headache to expend too much time in paying attention to which letters are which color. I see a page slightly like a white page with very light splotches of color all over it.

I see the colors in my mind's eye. I "see" auras as well. I also sometimes notice auras of people in photographs or simply if someone is talking about another person, not physically near me.

I don't do any significant amount of artwork.

If you're interested in the subject also check out Dr. V. Ramachandran, at University of San Diego. He's been studying it for over a decade and has quite a bit of empirical data on synesthesia.

I don't believe synesthesia is paranormal.

Paranormal has a lot of definitions.

Quite a few studies have been done on the details and rate of occurance of synesthesia. It's been found (by a study I read once based on 10,000 people from Sweden*) that approximately 4% of people have some form of synesthesia. This could include things we consider common, such as a musician who feels music a little differently than someone else.

www.answers.com...

* Sorry no citation on this

Oh no, I know synesthesia is real as I've experienced once in my life, I'm just saying because it's a real thing, shouldn't be classified as paranormal =).

But then again, like you said, paranormal has many definitions and one is "not normal", and synesthesia is definitely not a normal thing.