A Yellow Smell
A Yellow Smell
A Synesthesia Poem
A Synesthesia Poem
Some people hear colors. Some taste sounds. Some smell yellow.
This challenge asks you to write a poem that blends senses in ways that don’t normally belong together.
Your goal is to create synesthesia—a poetic technique that makes the reader see a sound, taste a memory, or feel a color.
You are not describing things as they are but as they feel.
Mix sensory experiences. Describe sounds as textures, emotions as colors, tastes as movements.
Avoid direct, logical comparisons. Instead of “The lemon smelled sour,” try “The lemon’s breath burned golden.”
Lean into instinct. If an emotion feels blue, why? If a voice tastes like copper, what does that mean?
Push beyond cliché. No “red anger” or “blue sadness.” Make it unexpected.
What color is a whisper? What shape does fear take in the mouth?
How does warmth sound? How does regret smell?
Can movement have a flavor? Can memories be tactile?
Arthur Rimbaud’s "Vowel Poem" – A poem that assigns colors to vowels, blending sound and sight.
T. S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock – “The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes…”
Pablo Neruda’s surreal imagery – His poems turn emotions into tangible, sensory experiences.