For me, a sparklet is a very quick and short immediate inspiration that feels like it slams into my brain fully formed. They are so hard to keep once they crash into my consciousness unless I write them down that very moment. When I can’t get it all down, I’m left with these fragments. I’ve started to collect them under the heading: UP FOR ADOPTION. I like that because if I’m blocked, stuck, or lost, I can return to that list of fragments up for adoption and work on building one of them a home. It might be a poem, a short story, a children’s book idea, or an idea for a novel. No matter what, though, it’s a little sort of accomplishment to find an adoptive placement for an orphaned thought.
This is a Sparklet that smashed into my head after watching an episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The episode featured Jon Batiste as an interview guest and the musical guest; a true treat for the audience. If you have somehow missed out on acquainting yourself with this phenomenally talented and inspiring gentleman, please, stop reading this now and look him up. You’ll not regret it.
The Sparklet references a moment at the end of his musical performance. He’s singing the lullaby, Butterfly, he wrote for his wife who, at the time, was receiving treatment in the hospital. The song is beautiful. The performance is breathtaking. After he finished singing, he grinned and this piece, fully formed, crashed into my grey matter.
Some So Beautiful
I want to know what he thought
After the music stopped.
A quiet smile crossed his lips
Eyes closed, silence s l i p s
Into the cracks between
notes and claps
A countenance of peace
and perhaps a wish
For all who listen far and near
To cherish those we hold dear.
12.21.23
Sparks 