The Taste of Living

1. I can still taste life
Early morning, late evening, whenever in-between. Gold streams my morning door Fresh as prayer. All day I seek to find that feeling. As night changes to day. Afternoon tastes different. Its limpid air, languid and redolent Its magic solitary and ordinary as the passing sun. Evenings are best. The quiet undertow Keens in anticipation Lapping at the waters, tasting fullness of being. Soon it will be dark. Night breathes a strange silence in. The silence will reach my heart, prise open vast empty spaces. I will be a stroller on a foreign shore.

2. No taste in my tongue.
I can’t tell salt from sweet, tea from coffee. Can’t smell too. If there were noxious fumes around me I would think rose. I rely on memory – my only friend – For all those finer details.

3. Waiting
To get worse I get better Cure for an ulcer never found Make it simple. A sandwich, nothing special. Cucumber salad Boiled potato & lettuce Mayo for taste but you can Do without it. Try out other salads with the usual ingredients. As long as it takes, to make it. Sometimes an hour sometimes a life And then eat slowly, you have all the time And all day to chew it. Sometimes, you can take a little more – Maybe green chilli but better to avoid All spices till you recover And stay off spirits because one never knows Where they are hiding. A salmon sandwich is expensive. But once in a while everything is good Even anger which you should now curb to sublime perfection. Don’t let it rise from the stomach That’s where they should be. Anger reaches the head early and causes trouble – High BP & sullen kidney. Thank life for giving life. Thank those with fellow feeling who care. Yes, you can have the cup of tea, without milk and sugar And the occasional coffee too. My fee is the usual two fifty, but today’s session is for free.