Hey, everyone! I have a quick and simple prompt for you. I’ve been spending lots of time on study playlists, using them as background noise while I work, and I think I speak for everyone when I say sometimes the songs without lyrics are the most expressive. I want you to pick a new atmospheric/acoustic/etc. song with no lyrics, something you’ve never listened to before. Give Spotify a go, and listen to the song once, all the way through. Write down words which you attribute to the song: emotions, nouns, verbs. If the song has arcs of sound which make you experience different feelings from the last, mark each section as a distinct word bank.
Now, try and create a narrative or an overall message from those words/feelings. Keep listening to the song, and let the words you chose shape the poem along with the song. As for an example, here’s my snippet inspired by “Rice Rain” by Cashmere Cat:
word inspiration: baby feet, toads, puddles, and tall grass
toddling father figures toppling
green stalks between pudgy mushroom feet
she sings along to the toad’s lazy burbling
the field mice tickle her
cheek with wispy peachfuzz whiskers
alongside sinews of cattails
no longer necessary attendees,
no need to spend money when
time and treesap serve her
intangible cakes with candle-stems embedded
muddy puddle-water becomes sherbet punch
gullible girls with fey hearts.
Comment with your own writing based on the prompt, or let me know if this exercise helped you at all!