My Heart's Beat

My Heart’s Beat

I am beginning to suspect
I have just one task, and it
is to open 
and open
and open
and open
and open 
and open
and open
and open
and open
and open
and oh pinched fist,
oh grinching heart,
o p e n,
o p e n,
pulse open
again.  

Photo by Maxim Berg on Unsplash

The Prompt

I was walking my dog this evening and thinking about the ways life invites me, over and over, to open more, soften more, then open and soften some more again. I started repeating the word “open” aloud to myself. “Open, open, open.” I found myself searching for a play on that word, and my ear quickly found it: “Oh pinched fist!” The poem wrote itself from there.

If you would like a prompt to play with today, then I invite you to make a short list of words that hold weight or meaning or excitement for you right now (or perhaps words that used to mean a lot to you but whose oomph has faded over time). Pick a word from your list, and repeat it aloud. Don’t overthink this. Maybe go for a walk or wash the dishes or fold your laundry or drive to work while you’re repeating this word. Let it become a sound. And then let yourself play with that sound. What other words does it sound like? What non-word sounds might it sound like? Let your ear decide where you go.

The result of this play might be a completely nonsensical (but musical!) poem. Or you might luck into sounds that delight your ear but also hold resonance for your mind or heart. If the first word you try doesn’t take you anywhere you’re keen to go, then return to that lovely list you made, and play with another word and its adjacent sounds.

I know I use the word “play” a lot in these prompts, and that’s on purpose. Don’t take any of this too seriously, dears. If you’re wired at all like me, then too much earnestness can really muzzle the muse. Plus, I’m a believer that we have to write a certain number of crummy poems to make our way to the really juicy ones. So if the result of this exercise is a poem you don’t feel particularly pleased with? At least you’re one poem closer to your next gem! Whatever you come up with, I’d be delighted to read it in the comments thread.