sheet music for discord

ask a swimmin fish to reflect
and think about how it got so wet
the answer may shock you

aside from the fact that a fish talked
his first question would be
what in the blue-hell is “wet”?

you see, I’m wrung-out, darlin
this ain’t even my voice
I’ve taken to inhabitin others
just to pass the time

this thing you ask of me
it done threw me for a loop
leavin me loopy an fumblin
for angles I ain’t covered yet
cause I’m already plenty wet

ask any man with song in heart
have him vibe in life’s minor key
like he hadn’t already mapped chords

that’s sheet music for discord

instead of steerin the ship
the fool’s countin the steps
he was formless like water
but now he need the recipe
for ice cube soup

look what you done did to me
I lived for the funk
rhythm an rhyme coarse my veins

now here you say you hear the hearsay
the challenge now is in ignoring melody
to refrain from refrain, if you will

ignore the score that screams from my pores
and whatever for; I even dream in flat-fours

look what you done did
I done fell back into rhyme
before bein mindful of my wetness

there’s no mindin for the music
when that’s all I am

just a fish out of water
drownin on a sandbar
with clammy skin
***

NaPoWriMo Day 15: Today’s prompt:

Today, I’d like to challenge you to write a poem inspired by your favorite kind of music. Try to recreate the sounds and timing of a pop ballad, a jazz improvisation, or a Bach fugue. That could mean incorporating refrains, neologisms and flights of whimsy, or repeating/inverting lines or ideas – whatever your chosen musical form would seem to require! Perhaps a good way to start is to listen to your favorite piece of music and “free-write” for the duration of the piece, and then use what you’ve written as the building blocks for your poem.

After reading the prompt, I stared at my screen for about five minutes. This prompt is basically, exactly what I do, most of the time. My comfort zone, if you will. I found myself stymied to find a fresh idea. My desire to remain on prompt was at odds with my need to try for a unique perspective. I shrugged and tried to let go. This was the result. I’m not exactly crazy about it, but it’s not my worst stuff, so no worries, I guess.