The Stow Away

Down at the mouth

Of the creek just now

I ran into a neighbor

And her dog Farrell

A border collie

Docile and sweet

I was with my own

Dog Bayleigh

Who eyed Farrell

Cautiously

While I admired

The tranquil waters

Of Shinnecock Bay

A few ducks paddled

About 5 yards offshore

What a beautiful day

Better store it away in memory

My neighbor said to me

Where else am I going to put it

I thought to myself

But this was no time

For such a quip

I was transfixed

By the clarity of

The November horizon 

That seemed within reach

Even as it extended out

Towards the utter certainty 

Of seasonal death

Well why not write it down

And save it as a poem

A little acorn to stow away

I thought to myself

As I walked home

And of course that

Is exactly what I did

By stowing it away

As a poem


***************

A number of years ago I became familiar with the idea of moment work, as developed by the playwright and director Moisés Kaufman and the Tectonic Theater Company, which has brought to life much of his better work.  A moment is integral to way they construct each scene in their dramatic works (the best know of which, perhaps, is The Laramie Project), built moment to moment as it were.

While writing this poem, it occurred to me that poems no less than dramas may be constructed by a similar means. There's no reason to confine yourself to a single moment, as the great Li Bai might have done, as opposed to creating a succession of moments like pearls on a string. The string is easy enough but the pearl - that of course is the hard part.