​Senses

By Wills Erda ’24

Our senses are funny things –
Unlike our minds, they do not deceive;
Unlike our minds, they do not comprehend.
 
The vibrancy of the autumn leaves,
just wavelengths;
The smell of a home-cooked meal,
Just a random collection of chemicals;
The feel of a lover's kiss,
Just a signal passing from one neuron onto another;
The coo of the mourning doves,
Just vibrations in the air.
 
Our senses are funny things --
Unlike our minds, they do not contemplate;
Unlike our minds, they cannot command action.
 
They gaze,
They listen,
They smell,
They taste,
They feel,
 
But they do not act,
Like the sky and the wind,
Like the sea and the waves;
They fill our world with life and intricacy,
But they have no life themselves.
 
Our senses are funny things --
They let us sense the world,
But cannot sense themselves.