Brain Ferment

Last Saturday I had a very lively conversation with my daughter Marth. We were seated at her dining room table having a very leisurely breakfast following my havng spent the night. Out of our conversation emerged ideas for two poems. It never fails to amaze me how the Muse materializes from unexpected places.
In my view Marth has a brain in ferment - she is quick, clever, imaginative,literate and so witty. Talking with her is like taking my brain to the gym and trying out all of the equipment. Muscles develop and I feel myself on the way to a Jack LaLanne brain.
We were talking about John Muir and how he experienced nature as his church. Both of us had watched some of The National Parks series on public television and Muir was profiled in one of the segments. Martha said that she could identify with his realization of nature as church. She hikes in a Preserve near her home and she said something intriguing about her hiking experiences as related to nature as church for her. She said she could not just saunter, stopping here and there but that she had to keep moving for the spiritual energy to be sustained. The uniqueness of what she was feeling caught my attention. "There is a poem here" I said. I want to talk with her more about this moving before I begin.
Then we talked about modern poetry and modern art. I have a friend who is a gifted artist. He began painting again after he retired. For quite some time his work was representationl and I enjoyed it. But the last show he mounted was almost one hundred percent modern art. It was so abstract I could not relate to it. I missed story and emotion. I belong to the Academy of American Poets and they seem to bestow most of their honors on abstract poetry. There is no question that the world of abstract art and poetry is a valid one. But I seem to lack whatever is required to be a fan. As a sort of apology to the modernists I said to Marth - "But I have Picasso hanging in my bathroom.' She laughed and remarked, "That is the title of a poem!"
So I have my work cut out for me. "What is it about moving that evokes and sustains Spirit for Marth?" And "What about Picasso hanging in my bathroom?" My brain is in ferment.