Although I’m aging
my retinas still see
in living color
a few electromagnetic waves
but just those
from .4 to .7 millimicrons-
that is, from what we call red
to what we call blue .
And, I’m happy to say,
my tympanic membranes
still hear a few waves
amidst the acoustical ocean.
Some we call a Bach.
I can’t explain how I taste
certain molecular structures,
but I do,
and so it is with touch and smell.
Thus I keep in contact
with what we call reality,
and I have a lot of opinions about it.
My problem is
I know I’m missing out
on most of the waves.
Why should bees see more,
dogs smell more,
bats hear more?
And even they are missing
most of the show.
Why plunk down
such a small receiver
in the midst of all this symphony?
When I die,
do I get to hear it all?
—T. Greening, ‘Awareness ‘ from Shadows of the Sacred
