Fridge Magnets

Published by Full Mood online literary magazine in 2022. The theme of the call was "Yellow" and I took the opportunity to try my hand at poetry. This piece is about synesthesia, and trying to understand it. It took me a while to chip at and sculpt this thing into something workable, and I was incredibly honoured to have someone see its value.

Fridge Magnets

The number five is yellow

There you are, all wide eyes and wild hands

You tell me E’s and V’s are yellow, too—

well, mustard and marigold,

you feel the need to clarify

Your world must be fridge magnets

Here I am, all wondering and woolgathering

The first chord of your favourite song is yellow—

a warm and heavy press of the keys

Hear it, feel it, see it all at once

I’m a child, grasping at the link

between the moon and the ocean tides for the first time

You tell me cheesecake is yellow—

New York, of course

not the weird ones like tiramisu or passion fruit

I won’t claim to understand, but to me

Yellow is the feeling of you when you’re gone,

but it’s another yellow entirely—

shining brighter when you reappear

like the sun, if you don’t mind a lazy metaphor