When I started writing poetry, it was a way for me to express who I am and how I feel. It brought me clarity to transfer the thoughts swirling in my head into lines on a page. There wasn’t any formal structure to them, just what sounded good to me.

My writing format changed while trying to describe an experience I had on a camping trip. It was a lovely moment that I wanted to remember, but there wasn’t enough to say to make the length of my usual poems. Fortunately, I happened to be reading a book about writing, which had a section on haikus.

Take one particular event and try to get it in focus. Put a frame around this experience as though it were a piece of art. It Is! It’s a piece of your life! You are a work of art.

-Macrina Wiederkehr

This quote changed how I thought and wrote. I now had a way to express my camping experience of noticing Ponderosa pines in a new way.

Butterscotch morning

Pines wafting their scent anew

Magic scented air

Typing these words takes me back to that moment. I can remember the scent, how tall they stood, the dry Arizona air and morning birdsong. The experience is forever framed for me.

This was the first of many that I’ve written. It’s been fun to transfer everyday beauty into three short lines. I’ve often been out for a run, counting syllables on my fingers as I arrange words. It keeps me entertained.

Noticing beauty

I think in five seven five

Memories in poems

Delightful daisies

White petals flung open wide

Embracing the day

Reflecting over the last several days, pick out a moment you’d like to keep. What caught your eye or made you feel a certain way? Start counting syllables on your fingers and maybe express yourself in three short lines of five, seven, five. Your life is a work of art, and these moments are worthy of framing.