Friday 15 May 2015

BRAIN FOG

Ben Nicholson, Cornish Port, 1928

It's the overhanging fluorescence
even when the sun
is tip toeing on blossom.

It's the churning of the pump
grinding out the hour
even as the robin sings.

Red breast, snow petals;
it's the colours that I miss.
In here, we are all in blue.

The tea man came back
three times to ask me -
did I say coffee or tea? Tea!

Gabriel is studying to be a biomedical scientist.
I worry for his scrambled brain.
Mine is already scrambled

by blue walls and fluorescence.
And the long slow road
the wolf and I are walking.

© Shaista Tayabali, 2015

(When you look at Ben Nicholson's Cornish Port above, what do you see? I see a goose with a bright orange beak, carrying a village on her back, and swirling the waters with one naughty foot… pareidolia, I have learnt this is called - a phenomenon of the brain perceiving images that aren't necessarily there/real/true… I have promised to write an article on brain fog for the Cambridgeshire Lupus newsletter. I have plenty to say about my foggy brain!)

12 comments:

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

I wouldn't, perhaps, have seen that image without your help — but now that you have pointe it out, I can;t not see it. (Sorry, I am one of those rare birds who usually looks at the words before the pictures, so I don't know what I would have seen, left to myself.)

As for foggy brain — well, presumably you know best, but I find it hard to believe you could gave brain fog and still write such a complex, coherent and beautiful poem!

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

*could HAVE

Sumana Roy said...

A poem so sharp and beautifully crafted with softness..and I am with Rosemary about your lines on the painting...

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Shaista! SO happy to see you posting here. Yay! I, too, would not have seen the goose without your note, and was so happy to discover her. We should have a cup of tea together and talk about brain fog. I must be an expert by now, LOL.....fluorescent lighting is the worst for that....I am most struck by your closing lines about the long slow road the wolf and you are walking. I, too, walk with a wolf. Albeit a ghostly one.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Quite an intriguing piece :)

Gen Giggles said...

Yes, the fog can take us to a place where we feel lost and confused. You've expressed it so well.

Marcoantonio Arellano (Nene) said...

i'm not sure if i understand 'brain fog'. my stream of thoughts and direction of choice is sometimes nebulous but still discernably intentional but not always comprehensible to others. if this is fog then i am in its 'mist'.

Unknown said...

The artist may have had brain fog. I like the way you look at things.
Yes others will benefit from your articles
Cheers.

Shaista said...

Rosemary thank you so much for your words - I suppose I mean a lack of concentration - but sometimes I think it's because my brain is so full of unnecessary tidbits from social media.
I feel guilty for inflicting the goose on everyone 😊

Shaista said...

Sumana, thank you for your lovely words xx

Shaista said...

Sherry you and I need to sit with several pots of tea!!! We have years of catching up to do. Am so lucky to have you in my life xxx

Shaista said...

Thank you, I'll take 'intriguing😊
Also Sanaa is my favourite name!

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