Saturday, April 3, 2010

Sensory Explicit

Sweat sticks and drips, sunlight licks everything within reach, salt and sand crawl over my skin and into the sheets. India attacks the senses. Even as a sensual being, I am overwhelmed.
My nose now knows a new language of scents. All things leave their mark. Smells appalling or appealling each make a name for themselves. If I hide my face, the smells and sights find a hidden path inward, leaving an imprint on my mind.
I don't remember the last time I heard silence. Animals wild and tame talk day and night. Insects chatter. Pigs scuttled by like obese rats. Women lay on outdoor beds at midday, their mouths in constant motion. Machines converse, engines rumble and groan, horns blare as if a drive down any dusty road makes them part of a parade. Trains tremble and grunt like elderly men, bodies creaky and decrepid with souls that don't know where to go when they die.
I Listen, Look, Smell and Taste. Each of these four Touch my core. At the end of the day, I'm worn out. My senses are assualted! But endlessly reawakened, ready for more. I don't have to ask, more keeps coming ...
The fruit drips with juice sweeter than hummingbird nectar. Each bite of curry does a risque dance on my tongue. Tang and spice! Crying from the heat, I suck the cool juice of cucumber and coconut. I drink in the warm air, as if it is cool, and savour luke-warm water.
Colors beyond the rainbow meet my eyes at every glance. Balmy nights blow sneaky insects into my room. My skin swells from moist heat. I see smiles and frowns, both with the ability to grab on to my heart and squeeze.
Things live with a determination I have never known before. Gardens grow in patches of soil between railway tracks. Cows moan in the heat. Stray people and animals scrounge in trash for food. Before dying in the streets, people crawl around and beg, barely breathing, yet breathing fiercely all the same. Dogs whimper and convulse, refusing death until the last possible second. The floor of the Earth noticably moves. Life is in every inch of the country. It takes hold of Spirits in a tight grasp, never planning to let go. If I'm not fully alive in my Self I miss an important scene. More- I'm not offered the option to be passive, un-alive. It is not tolerated! I will be slapped, bruttally, on the cheek with reality if I close my eyes or plug my ears. Or some burning itch will gnaw at my heart. So, I must stay completely, enthusiastically alive.
And, I have found, I can settle into alert senses. With patience, I find calm breath in the whirlwind. I appreciate the depth of flavors exposed to me through all the ways that I sense.

1 comment:

  1. really excellent post. made my morning. travel well dear!-jefski

    ReplyDelete