Thinking "outside of the box" seems to be such a popular paradigm. I have recently had a conversation that has led me to believe that there is something much more powerful. What we if we really work at thinking INSIDE THE BOX. The reality is that we all have some type of "box" or boundaries. How amazing would it be if what we did is considered the reality of the situation and moved to live life in creative, transparent, and intentional ways? Isn't it true that this would be a much better measure of creativity? I have heard it said, by a much beloved director, that real creativity does not happen until we run out of options.

Morning Specter
By Jari Thymian

These coffee beans,
crushed to small flecks,

forgot their former shape and texture,
but rise at daybreak to the glass observatory

seeing flashes of light
in geysers of hot water,

percolating, rising lively,
saying, "Wait, wait," wanting

to float in the spectrum,
stretch the wavelengths

before sinking, pulled by undertows,
to the filter for rejuvenation,

where color and character
sweep through porous membrane,

flavoring the warm ocean,
where they willingly surrender
to new vessels.

This poem previously appeared in Buckle & magazine. Jari Thymian’s poetry has appeared in Open Windows 2005, Buckle &, The Christian Science Monitor, Ekphrasis, Wild Plum, The Pedestal Magazine, and in various anthologies. Poems are forthcoming in The Progenitor and Poetry Motel. She is a life coach and teacher in Aurora, CO.