Poetry or Prose, just follow your nose

Smell: What memories are evoked by the iconic spice cinnamon?

Sight: Describe what your earliest memory looked like. Was it frightening? If not, describe what you saw in your earliest remembrance of being scared. Were you lost? Did you see something alive that you’d never seen in person?

Touch: What have you felt that you didn’t realize you were feeling? Surely you’ve touched something unexpectedly: reached into a bag without remembering the contents, felt scratchy broom bristles unbeknownst to you, your cheek when it was numbed, etc.

Taste: Did you get sick after eating a food and now associate it with the illness? If there are foods you dislike, what would it take to get you to eat them? If you like everything, what is the one food you would like to eat if that was the only thing you could have every day for the rest of your life?

Hearing: Have you heard animals that we don’t think of as being vocal make noises? (Rabbits, squirrels, deer?) What noises alarm you most? Do you normalize sirens after hearing them for so long? Do some sounds drive you to distraction? smoke alarms needing a battery change, fire alarms, dumpsters slamming, trucks beeping when backing up? If so, describe their effects on you.

Sense of time: How accurately do you guess what time it is when you wake in the night?

Misc.: most striking memories of elementary school, books that affected you deeply, times you were betrayed, a time you betrayed others, a time you were especially compassionate