when art surprises us from nowhere

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Years ago, I awoke somewhere in the still-dark hours of a summer night to find a brilliant full moon shining into the bedroom. At the time I had four cats, and one of them was a couple of feet away on top of the bedcovers, scratching at an area where the light was falling. The sound or movement of the cat's paws on the blanket might even have been what stirred me to open my eyes.

Then the most fascinating thing happened. In my dreamy, half-asleep state, a small poem emerged instantaneously and fully formed... a haiku with the famous 5-7-5 syllable scheme.

Fortunately I wrote it down, not giving in to that all-too-common delusion that I'd remember it later.

It's still one of my favorite little creations, in no small part because it's genesis took place somewhere completely removed from conscious thought:

my cat scratches at
bright white patches of moonlight
on the night blanket

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