One of the genuine joys of my pre-COVID life was eavesdropping. Not maliciously, not with an ear toward gossip or harming anyone. I’m just a deeply curious (some might say nosy, though I prefer “nebby”) person. Public transportation, coffee shops, the public spaces on campus - all the best places for overhearing others are now closed to us, or infused with tension.
For today’s poem we’re going to adapt the practice of noticing Real Things that we used in prompt #1 and prompt #7 to include sounds.
Prompt #18: listening
Be still for a moment and really listen to the sounds around you. It might help to picture an expanding circle: what sounds are in the room with you? just beyond the room? outside your home? far off in the distance? Listen for as long as you want, then listen a little longer. Write down all the sounds you notice, even if you’re not quite sure what they actually are.
Now, try to capture some spoken language. If you’re up for it, you could go for a walk and see if you catch anything intersting. You could also listen to a podcast, jot down some dialogue from TV, or, if you live with other people, grab a little bit of a conversation you’re not part of, ideally one you don’t fully follow. (My kids talk mostly about Roblox, and I generally do not understand any of it.)
Use those sounds and that speech as the basis of a poem. Try just stacking pieces together without worrying about how they fit or what kind of sense they make. Sound can be its own sense.
If you want one more rule, pick a consonant and use at least two words that start with it in each line.
Sharing your work helps sustain momentum. I’ll leave the comments open, so you can share a poem title, a snippet of a line, or something else about your writing life. I’m also on twitter at @nancy_reddy and instagram at @nancy.o.reddy, if you want to check in there.