diminished

i’m going deaf

every face moving mouth,

soundless

last week i went on the balcony

to watch the lightning

but saw nothing

the next morning

the grass wet with water

did not smell greener

even your favorite dessert

which i ordered at our café

had no taste

downtown

there is a flower shop with roses

i tried yet could not touch them

This poem is an exploration of the existence and loss of our five senses, as they relate to our perceptions of the world withing the setting of a romantic affair. I know romanticism is cliche, but there is a reason for that. The reason being in some form or another, we all have love (or its absence) in the framework of our lives.

There is a stanza for each of the five senses: hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Every stanza consists of three lines, each telling a story about the loss of that specific sense and its relationship to the love that is central to the poem.

It is up to the reader to determine the end of the story. Is the communion between the lovers ending or beginning? Is it that the voice in the poem finds that his love is dying, or is it that he sees nothing of value without the context of this love? Either way, he is clearly searching for something. Perhaps you can decide which is happening and inform me in the comment section.

Joshua Wiebe