Uploaded November 2021 | Updated September 2026, 15 hours ago

---

Can you smell colours? Or do you see colours when you smell? Are different days of the week different colours for you - do numbers have colours? Do you have a visual representation of time in your mind's eye - maybe three dimensional timelines? Maybe you have feelings and sensations that take on colours. An overlap of our senses that helps us create and remember. Here I present some of my own oddities - feel free to comment on your own unique version of this intriguing phenomenon. Visit robinkelly.co.nz

Orange

”Orange
it feels orange”
“Your knee, you mean…
It feels swollen like an orange?”
“No, no, no”
said the young boy
“the COLOUR orange”
“I told you, my knee feels
ORANGE
and it’s sore here.”
“But that’s your thigh.”
“Yes, I know”
“And where does your knee feel orange?”
“Here, of course”
“Can I press it...gently?”
“Yes – because it doesn’t hurt much
just feels ORANGE.”
“Oh, I see.”
I look up.
“My daughter’s working today” says grandma.
I act the smug doctor
“SYNESTHESIA!”
Then to soften my hubris
I croon
“I can sing a rainbow”
“I can sing a rainbow” echoes the boy
Then all eyes on grandma
who whispers
“I can sing a rainbow too.”

(c)RKelly 2021