Have you ever spent time looking for something and then suddenly, when you stop looking you begin to see? There's something about putting oneself in the right spot and then sitting back to wait that helps the frame to shift ...
And, of course, this applies to the poet and the poems.
How to Spot an Agate
First, you must find a place
Where the small stones gather.
Look to the beach
Where restless waves rock.
Go to the roadside
Where tires rarely tread.
Or, if courageous, to the graveled center,
Where hither ignores yon.
Then sit. Plant yourself, as if a tree.
And open your eyes.
Adjust your gaze.
Look past any shapes.
Look beyond every color.
Catch the glint, instead.
The brilliant shaft.
A moment’s refraction.
That jeweled spark?
That is what you seek.
Reach out.
Hold it to the light.