A Poem Can Capture A Special Moment

Crystals

The Wall Street Journal had an article recently profiling a contemporary poet by the name of Maggie Smith. One of her quotes was simple but said a lot. She said,  "A poem doesn't have to tell a story; it can just crystallize a moment." I read it two or three times, then copied it on a notepad. 

If you've ever been stopped by a beautiful sight or sound and wanted to write a poem, you'll understand her thought--just crystallize a moment. There's no set number of verses to do that, no rhyming pattern, or anything else. ...just crystallize a moment.

Maybe you've watched your children interacting, and there was a moment that you wanted to keep forever. It's then that you should get that little notepad you keep nearby and jot down the thoughts you had. If you don't do it right away, you'll probably lose the intensity of the moment. 

Early one morning, I went outside to pick up the newspaper, and I saw something that made me stop and watch and think. I wrote a poem about that one moment and what I saw in that tiny sliver of time it took me to do a daily chore. It was a moment I wanted to remember, and the poem helped me do so.

Message

The cacophony of geese  

caught my ear immediately  

this cold, early morn, 

as I claimed my newspaper

on the still frosty driveway.

I scanned the cloud-dense sky,

                                                            paper clutched in hand,                                                              

none sighted, but raucous honking

pierced the dawn as they flew

 north from warmer climes.

Yet, their message arrived with

clarity, joy, and triumph.

I smiled, knowing another spring

will grace us one day soon. 

---Nancy Julien Kopp

Many nature poems are something we see for a moment, perhaps a quick glance at a colorful butterfly on a flowering bush. If that glimpse of something beautiful spoke to you, that's when a poem might 'crystallize' the experience. It might be as simple as a haiku, or it could be a poem of several verses. 

As you go about your day, use your writer's eye to look for that exceptional moment or special sight, and pen a poem. You can 'crystallize' whatever it happens to be.