.

Pareidolia: The science of seeing faces in everyday objects.
Apophenia: The human tendency to seek patterns in random information.

Long-nosed creature
In my tile,
As I shower
All the while,

Nose that’s bulging,
Smile half-cocked,
Jawline sagging,
Lips that mock.

Apophenia
I perceive.
Random objects
Stare at me.

Smokey lines,
Curves that trick—
I see faces
Real and quick.

Liquid soap makes
Lines refine,
But shower over,
They decline.

Gone again,
So we adjourn
Until my bathtime’s
Next sojourn.

.

.

Beverly Stock is an American poet who delights in creating poetry that asks big questions about small moments and inspires readers to revisit the little memories we so often overlook. www.BeverlyStockPoetry.com

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26 Responses

  1. Rohini

    I loved this…
    I can relate
    To this state
    See bugs’n’smiles
    In things, in tiles
    In the loo
    Just like you.

    Reply
  2. Sally Cook

    Oh, Beverly, I love your poetic perceptions.
    Objects do have personalities and some of my best poems come from getting to know them. You are a poet after my own heart.

    Reply
  3. Paul Freeman

    The big-nosed beast
    that watches you get
    in and out of the shower
    is cheaper than owning a pet;
    and at least you don’t have to
    take it for a walk,
    though it’s always available
    to talk.

    I hope that puts your mind at rest Beverly.

    Thanks for a surreal read!

    Reply
  4. SGK

    Thank you for introducing and defining two new words for me. Your poem was an education and delightful.

    Reply
  7. Jeff Eardley

    Beverly, thank you for a fun read and two great new words. Years ago, there was a range of bathroom tiles in England with a random, marbled pattern, but once you saw the budgerigar, you saw a wall full of them!

    Reply
  8. Peter Hartley

    Beverly – This poem, and the adjectives descriptive of the image in the shower tile,
    are absolutely brilliant, and the subject unique in every possible way. I’ve never read anything like this.

    Reply
  10. Michael Dashiell

    We need more contemporary style in formal poetry you’ve done well. Thanks for the poem.

    Reply
  11. Susan Jarvis Bryant

    A very interesting subject that has lent itself to a wonderful poem that has captured my imagination and had me nodding in agreement. I particularly like that “long-nosed creature”… I’ve seen a few of those in wallpaper patterns in my time. Thank you, Beverly!

    Reply
  12. Yael

    Thanks to the photo I totally get it; I see it too. Without the photo I wouldn’t know what this was about, even though you supplied the word definitions.
    To think that I’ve been suffering from the Pareidolia bug all my life and didn’t even know it!

    Reply
  13. C.B. Anderson

    I always see faces and figures in the knap of terry-cloth towels hanging on the rack in the bathroom. You can look away, but when you look back the faces are there again. And forget about clouds.

    Reply

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