Breakup
Finally, today’s (optional) prompt is inspired by musical notation, and particularly those little italicized –and often Italian – instructions you’ll find over the staves in sheet music, like con allegro or andante. First, pick a notation from the first column below. Then, pick a musical genre from the second column. Finally, pick at least one word from the third column. Now write a poem that takes inspiration from your musical genre and notation, and uses the word or words you picked from the third column.
| Notation | Genre | Words |
|---|---|---|
| “with a hint of frenzy” | power ballad | sharks |
| “the joy is gone” | jazz fantasia | nonsense |
| “smugly saying ‘yeah, I’m better than you’” | folk song | roses |
| “literally go nuts” | march | departures |
| “play terribly” | chamber music | bones |
| “deliciously” | symphony | infield |
| “about to burst” | aria | concrete |
| “crazy eyes here” | overture | butterflies |
| “fade out like my hairline” | interstitial | wool |
| “like you’ve been hit by an arrow” | muzak | vanilla |
| “louder than possible” | breakup anthem | vampire |
| “with contempt for imported convertible sports cars” | rumba | shadow |
| “like a naughty, naughty boy “ | waltz | monument |
| “lord have mercy” | outlaw country classic | clock |
| “improvisatory screaming” | death metal | moonlight |
| “tempo di murder” | novelty song | centaur |
| “as roughly as possible” | fugue | pool |
| “gradually becoming a disaster” | yacht rock | hollyhocks |
| “play like you are about to start crying” | tango | chain |
| “obliterate the choir” | hymn | banquet |
| “like 100 tin cans falling out of a Volvo” | dubstep | snow |
Choices:
- Obliterate the choir
- breakup anthem
- clock, departures, concrete
A tunnelling sound
Underneath
Worn-out apartment
Rumbling concrete
Like something
From Eno
The screetch of kettle
Slow beep of washing machine
Her alarm clock
Earlier than his
Raising tempo
Like something
From Ben Frost
Her slap on his cheek
The sting of betrayal
Drawers half-emptied
Tears at the end of the bed
Like something
From Jeff Tweedy
In fast-moving crowd
At departure gate
He said goodbye
For the last time
Her eyes cast downward
Her makeup immaculate
The airport crowds
Whose chatter is becoming
strangely harmonic
Like something
From St Matthew Passion
From the ninth
From Part
From Handel
The choir of memory
Is gradually
assuradely
with quickening pace
obliterated
by his soft sigh
by the sound of her kiss
And the rythmic rumble
of luggage wheels
