As you look again at “The Artist and the Scientist”, you will find there is a lot going on in a short poem. For your convenience, the poem is listed below this discussion.

What do you see in their relationship? Is it conflict, love, frustration, a declaration of self? Is there an appreciation of other temperaments? What else do you see in this poem?

Do you have someone in your life who is a completely different temperament? How do you react to them?

Why do you think the artist is the one who speaks?

The couple seems to have drifted in two different directions over time, yet there is still love. What do you think happened over the years?

Do you think they come to a resolution about the item they are both examining?

This is a poem that covers a brief moment, yet can provide brain food to think on throughout the day. without using elaborate language, a complex dynamic of human relationships is described. This is the key to plain-talk poetry. It is the poetic equivalent of a sound-bite, yet gives you something more – a concept that lasts and expands your train of thought.

I hope you have enjoyed this series. May it bring many wonders and joys to your life as you observe the world around you!

THE ARTIST AND THE SCIENTIST

My opinion was wrong –
You told me so.
It couldn’t be measured
Or numbered.
It had no purpose
You said with a sneer,
I simply thought I liked it.

Your questions implied
My thoughts were not right.
The discussion brewed quickly,
And soon came a fight.
I wonder sometimes
What you see in me,
Do you measure and
Number me too?

We speak the same words
Yet a different tongue,
No longer see both points of view.
Somewhere along
The decades of time
We diverged like
Two separate parts of a vine.

I’ve kept up appearances –
Done all the right things,
But somewhere I lost my self.
I was, then I wasn’t –
Revealed and then hid.
I’m a who, not a what, and
Won’t fit in a box.

I show myself now as I truly am,
And we fight more often now.
Feel free to measure
The things I admire,
And I will still enjoy them.
More importantly yet,
I’m a who, not a what,
And you are the who
That I love.

©Susan H. McIntyre
From “Orphan Dreams”

When we last spoke, I referred to a moment in time in which a couple was having a disagreement about an item in a store. There was frustration, then love in their discussion and in their body language. The universal element is that we all experience moments of frustration despite love. Within the poem is the story of how they handle the disagreement. The artist is standing up for herself, yet loving the one who is so different. The action going on is something we all do, which is to shop for items we need. If you review part one of this series, I think you will find that it meets the criteria I look for in plain-talk poetry.

Here is the final poem that came out of that moment, overheard and watched in a store. The entire discussion overheard lasted about 2-5 minutes at most!

THE ARTIST AND THE SCIENTIST

My opinion was wrong –
You told me so.
It couldn’t be measured
Or numbered.
It had no purpose
You said with a sneer,
I simply thought I liked it.

Your questions implied
My thoughts were not right.
The discussion brewed quickly,
And soon came a fight.
I wonder sometimes
What you see in me,
Do you measure and
Number me too?

We speak the same words
Yet a different tongue,
No longer see both points of view.
Somewhere along
The decades of time
We diverged like
Two separate parts of a vine.

I’ve kept up appearances –
Done all the right things,
But somewhere I lost my self.
I was, then I wasn’t –
Revealed and then hid.
I’m a who, not a what, and
Won’t fit in a box.

I show myself now as I truly am,
And we fight more often now.
Feel free to measure
The things I admire,
And I will still enjoy them.
More importantly yet,
I’m a who, not a what,
And you are the who
That I love.

©Susan H. McIntyre
From “Orphan Dreams”

Hi! Have you found a moment to capture? I have chosen a moment in which a couple has been shopping and sees different things in the item they are examining. It is obvious that they see life differently, not just the item. Yet love overcomes the brewing argument, giving me a glimpse of a beautiful moment.

——————————

Following the criteria in Part 2, here is what I found:

• What is happening? They are having a discussion with disagreement about an item.
• What is the underlying emotion? Frustration, then love
• Is it an emotion that others can relate to? Yes, as individuals, we all have individual temperaments that bring both frustration and love.
• Can the moment tell a story? Yes. The story is in how they handle the disagreement.
• Is there an interaction that others can identify with? Yes. We all shop, and we all have disagreements with those we love.

——————————–

So, having identified the depth of the moment, how did I put it into a poem? It became a poem called “The Artist and the Scientist”, in my book Orphan Dreams.

In the next part I will post a copy of “The Artist and the Scientist”. Meanwhile, have YOU found those moments? Care to share them?  (No I won’t use your ideas in my own poetry…)

The first step is to focus on small moments. This requires that you  observe moments that happen in an instant and capture them in your memory. Keeping a small notepad is helpful, but don’t try to describe it entirely. Jot down a few words that will call the moment back to your memory. The main thing is to watch and listen.    There is so much happening in a single instant that there will be plenty to write about later.

• What is happening?
• What is the underlying emotion?
• Is it an emotion that others can relate to?
• Can the moment tell a story?
• Is there an interaction that others can identify with?

My challenge to you is to find one of these moments and capture it. Part three of this series will help you to arrange it into a poetic form, so don’t worry about perfect writing. The key is to observe the world around you and the people in it.

Have fun!

It isn’t easy to be a plain-talk poet. There is an art to reducing the poetic form to everyday language and still capturing universal truths. I discovered this poetic form while reading Billy Collins’ Poetry 180. It fascinates me because the topics were everyday moments which I could identify with, yet I was not the one experiencing them first-hand. I realized that this former Poet Laureate had created an anthology of plain-talk poetry by a number of people who had found this new method of expression. Rather than focusing on verbal gymnastics, the message of each poem was simply phrased, yet reached my heart.

As I examined the art form of plain-talk poetry (my own term for it), I found that there are certain common characteristics:

• Focus on small moments
• Find the universal experience or emotion
• Paint a picture with words
• Tell a condensed story
• Don’t be afraid to be absurd
• Find the musicality of your words

Rhyming is not a factor in plain-talk poetry. We don’t speak in rhyme, we converse. Plain talk poetry is a conversation between the writer and the reader as if we were sitting together having a cup of coffee.

If you have never tried plain-talk poetry, I encourage you to experiment with it. It’s harder than it looks, but rewarding. Capturing the moments of life and telling their story with meaning brings it to life for yourself and for others. Plus, it’s fun!