The Importance of Words

Synaesthesiacs may see numbers as colours.
But I see words as pictures.
Photographs and home movies,
From the albums of my life up till now.
Discovering a new word,
Is like opening a brand new picture book.

I love metaphors and similes,
I collect them,
Like postcards from holiday destinations.
I even make them up.
"He was being a frock"
It is soft, flouncy and has tiny blue flowers,
Gathered at the waist, long puffy sleeves with cuffs.
" She is as crazy as a cut snake "
The one that writhed about headless on our back patio,
Three years ago.

I read books I can cope with.
Some images I do not want in my head.
So I read the last pages.
Why invest in a relationship,
With a character who meets a ghastly end,
That I perhaps may never forget?

I like my words to be precise.
I have MY pictures for their meaning.
I have little tolerance,
For thoughtlessly chosen words.
Arguments have even turned nasty.

Despite this,
I often can't find the right word quick enough,
To maintain flowing conversation.
Then,
I resort to swearing.
Funnily, these hard callous words,
Don't have pictures.

Thinking in Pictures

One of my happiest pastimes,
Is just,
Thinking.

Not anything in particular,
Just whatever pleasant billings I see arrive,
In the theatre of my mind.

They must come of their own accord,
Unbidden.

So then I have the surprise of a visual present.
And I can make a mental journey,
Exploring all the possibilities,
Taking as little or as much time as I like.

It is sometimes with great reluctance I am roused from my reverie.
And I have to return to the reality,
Of purpose-driven conscious thought.

Working with my hands

I escape into my head,
And into my hands.
The pictures in my head produce:
Poetry, paintings, song lyrics and...
Other projects.

(Some psychologically educated professionals have been known to describe them as 'special interests')

I can walk around these ideas in my head.
A tweak here, a major change there.
And all in 3D,
My own personal movies.

And then I may experience the sheer pleasure,
Of transforming ideas into reality,
With my hands.

...Besides bringing joy to others,
What greater happiness can there be?