"Misophonia"

[gunwithoutmusic]

Is it bad that I
Don’t want you smoking,
Not because I
Worry about your health
(Because how hypocritical
Would that be of me,
Smoking beside you and
Worrying about your lungs),
But because you feel
The need to spit
After every drag?

The “pbbbt... plop”
Of saliva leaving your mouth
And landing on the porch
Every few seconds
Sends me shivers
And takes over my thoughts,
Like nails on a chalkboard
Or open-mouthed chewing,
Like the smacking of gum
Or the sucking of hard candy,
Like the sound of a fork
As its tines drag across teeth.

Comments

[murielle]

That's a new one to me! We all have our rituals around smoking. I had quite a little routine back in the (smoking) day, but I've never heard of anyone needing to spit after every drag. This person just isn't enjoying the experience very much, unless it's all about the spitting. ;-)

Won't be commenting till Sunday evening, but I'll still be cheering you on, just silently for a couple of days. <3

[alycewilson]

Yuck! But seriously, this poem is good. Great details, exactly long enough.

[adoptedwriter]

Certain sounds are real triggers, aren't they?

[swirlsofpurple]

The feel this evokes is so visceral and real, brilliant

[halfshellvenus]

Bleah! And by that, I mean the 'tic,' not the poem.

That would be a truly annoying habit, but kind of gross. And if he doesn't like the taste, why smoke at all? Maybe leave a bottle of bubbles out there, and he can blow bubbles while you smoke until you manage to quit again.

Boy, none of these are my "cringe" sounds. Mine actually hurt my ears-- squeaking styrofoam, squeaking markers on white-boards (which sound almost identical), and forks scraping across plates. They all 'shriek' in a truly painful way. :O