Below is the original script for The Discovery of Spoons, as presented to John for illustration. I didn't compose a full script until after my own abortive attempt to illustrate this poem. When I did write the script, I did so with John in mind specifically--perhaps a bit presumptuous, since I had never actually spoken to him at the time! Fortunately, he liked the script and agreed to take it on. What I wanted in an artist for this piece was somone with an eye for design, and not just illustration. That happens to be a particular strength of John's, which is why I felt he was the perfect person for this piece.

Each of the ten pages is to be a square of equal size, divided into panels as needed. It is not necessary for panels to use up the entire space available - allowing panels to float in the grey field is encouraged. Each page should include the display of its stanza number. This may precede the page, or be inset into one of the panels, or even be presented as a separate panel in each page.

Page 1

Panel 1
Close-up of hands at a keyboard, typing. The setting, if discernable is in a home office, at a cluttered desk.

CAP: I wrote a poem today.
CAP: It wasn't very good.

Panel 2
A glass of water sits on a kitchen counter. Beside it are a balled up piece of paper and a spoon.

CAP: I poured a glass of water/to wash it down.

Page 2

Panel 1-3
Three small overlapping panels descend from the top left at a diagonal. They depict the glass from page 1 falling, rotating slightly, water splashing out. In the final panel, the glass hits the tile floor and shatters, sending water and glass across the floor.

Panel 4
A grey field that serves as background to the first three panels, but also contains text.
CAP: I awoke suddenly,/ripples of broken glass/still spreading across the floor.

Panel 5
Close-up on a man's bare feet, standing in the puddle of water and broken glass. If the bottom of his pants are visible, they are pajama pants.

CAP: My feet were wet, but unharmed.

Page 3

Panel 1
An empty office cubicle. On the desk is an In/Out box -- the In side includes a stack of papers requiring attention. The Out side is empty. The computer is turned on, but not in use. A jacket hangs from a hook on the wall. Also on the desk are a MetaNETCOM.com mug and a couple of spoons.

CAP: I brought a book to work/and hid in the bathroom/most of the morning.

Panel 2
Two pieces of poetry printed out on official MetaNETCOM.com stationary sitting on the desk. The MetaNETCOM.com mug sits on the corner of one of the pages, and the two spoons seen earlier are also nearby.

CAP: In the afternoon I wrote/two pieces of corporate poetry.

Page 4

Panel 1
The phone on the desk, ringing in a loud startling manner.

CAP: I awoke suddenly.

Panel 2
Focused on the computer screen, with the telephone wire crossing the screen. In the bottom right corner of the computer, the time is visible, but not readable yet.

CAP: My wife wanted to know when I was leaving.

Panel 3
Close on the bottom right corner of the screen, focused on the clock. The time is 7:03.

CAP: I had forgotten to go home.

Page 5

A blank grey field containing only text.

CAP: That night, my wife read the two poems I had written at work.
CAP: "These are lifeless," she said.
CAP: I shrugged. "Of course they are."
CAP: "Maybe your boss will like them," she said.

Page 6

Panel 1
A pot of soup bubbles on the stove.

Panel 2
Ladling soup into a bowl.

Panel 3
Shot of the inside of the silverware drawer -- plenty of knives and forks, but the spaces for spoons are empty.

Panel 4
Shot of the silverware holder in the dishwasher -- more forks and knives, but no spoons.

Panel 5 (Runs vertically down the full length of the right side.)
Grey panel with only text.

CAP: My wife asks where all the spoons are.
CAP: "They're gone," I said.
CAP: "All of them?"
CAP: "I bought more."
CAP: "Well, where are those?"
CAP: "They're gone too."

Page 7

Panel 1
Strips of paper, each with a poem written on it. A number of spoons also on the table. Hands in the panel are rolling up one of the strips.

CAP: Sixteen poems on sixteen strips of paper.

Panel 2
The hands are slipping a rolled up poem over the handle of a spoon.

CAP: Each slipped onto the handle of a spoon.

Panel 3
Close-up on the bowl of a spoon, with text inscribed.

CAP: One by one,/ I toss the spoons over the edge/and listen to each metallic cry/as the spoons bounce from rock to rock.

Panel 4
Close-up on a spoon with a poem around its handle landing in water with a splash.

CAP: Each poem gets swallowed by the water below.

Page 8

Panel 1
A rain of spoons falling into the ocean, on a bright sunny day.

CAP: "Why spoons," she asked.
CAP: "Poets like spoons./You see it all the time./Are you mad at me?"
CAP: "I'm worried about you."
CAP: I shrugged.

Panel 2
A grey box in the bottom right hand corner of the page.

CAP: "And where did you do that, anyway?/We live on Long Island./There aren't any cliffs."

Page 9

Panel 1
Shot of the empty cubicle. The In box is even more full. The Out box is still empty.

CAP: Today they found the spoons.
CAP: The poems were all gone;/dissolved and flushed away.
CAP: A guy I work with says:/"I was in the bathroom/when it happened./I kept hearing this sound/like metal striking the toilet."

Page 10

Panel 1
Close-up of a toilet bowl. In the bowl we can see sixteen spoons in a tangle, partly submerged in the water.

CAP: He asks, "Why would someone/throw spoons in the toilet?"
CAP: I just shrug./I can't even imagine.