A daily poetry practice to generate and sustain the Life/Lines among us, for published and novice poets alike
Join us to receive a daily poetry prompt every weekday during April. Sign up here!
Prompt
Write a short poem (rhyming not necessary) that includes each of the following 5 words (anywhere and in any order). Poems should not exceed 7 or 8 lines.
improv
solo
heart
song
unison
Send us your poem via our Submissions page or post on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #lifelines.
Today’s words were contributed by guest curator Peter Martin, an acclaimed jazz pianist and entrepreneur. Over the past 25 years he has performed at most of the major venues and jazz festivals on six continents, including twice at the White House for President Obama. He is the founder of Open Studio, pioneering in the field of online jazz education. (Check out Connected in Place, a live stream concert from Open Studio every Friday at 8 pm ET.) Peter was recently featured in the New York Times for his groundbreaking work.
Poems submitted for April 22
Dance
Her heart's song is a somber solo
Yurning for a harmonized improv
Or a duet in unison.
— J. Thomas 4/22/21
***
No one tells you that most of life is improv,
that if there's unison to be had it's not with the heart
but of it, that any song our clumsy
playing might produce can be heard only
in retrospect, that most suffering is done solo,
and the strings are usually wound too tight,
the warble out of tune, bridge cracked,
reed snapped, the voice too sweetly soft
and cracking on the melody.
Gwyneth Henke
***
I sang you a song
You said it sounded like the beating of a drum
It reached into your heart
And made you sing with me
In unison
Spurring feelings so deep
The sea couldn't compete
The greatest love song was improv
***
Singing Our Praises
When we were solo performers,
I called his answering machine
daily to gauge his sincerity.
My heart pounded to his tone and timbre.
We stopped seeking to improve
our lyrics, when in unison
we created a song of promises
that became our wedding vows.
Linda O’Connell 4/22/21
***
No solo improv here-
I'd rather sing my song
in unison with all the
lovely voices around me,
filling my heart
with a wondrous explosion
of happiness.
Laurie J
***
Butterfly
We tremble in real time
as each filament and fiber
connects, sparking the ember
that arcs through our minds.
Breathe deep and reconcile;
this metamorphosis
is timely and timeless.
Susan Lively
***
Τζαζ
So many Sonnys
Reds, Kings, and Buddys
Sunny in my heart thanks to Newk and Stitt
Saxophone artistry, and immaculate solo
Crescendo
Bird,
From Lady Day to Brother Ray
The High Priest to the High Priest of Bop
Cannonball and Satchmo
Dizzy
And
Miles a.k.a. (the prince of Darkness)
Hard to describe
not necessarily a song to be sung
But improv
Simultaneously erupting, yet coexisting in unison
K.J. Boehler
***
I love performing a solo
but the problem is the song I chose
does not have enough heart
not enough soul unless I use improv techniques
but that includes others
just try to get singers or dancers or actors
to deliver in unison a performance worthy of a stage
much less a live audience.
and mostly, there goes my solo.
Sara Burke
***
NOURISHMENT
I was provided a significant rescue aid
with an improv solo to fill those days.
All those times my heart was clearly singing
a song in unison with some nimble thinking.
Betty
***
Some poems are a solo from the heart.
all are an improv as you take the stage,
break out in song doing your dum de dum dum
doobee waa or some some such tactile be-bop doo-wop
You want a sweet unison for the moment.
You want the poem to do a moonwalk or an Astaire,
It is what you feel, the sax, the key-tar, deep emotion from the ocean.
Ride the waves mama, ride dem waves, sing poetry
— Dan Cuddy
***
I used to make up songs instead of poetry and sing aloud.
I didn't record or write it down.
It was good practice for writing poetry.
Both can be improv from the heart.
If others sing your words in unison, you have an audience performing for you.
Margaret Fourt Goka
***
Do not improv your solo song
The heat will always bleed in unison
There is no I
It will always be
We
Who will save the earth
Jey Sushil
***
Improvisation of the Heart
An improvisation of the heart
Smooth yet staticky song, a jazz fantasia
Loud solo of longing
Beat by beat as fingertips meet
And souls sing in unison
For a moment before
Parting
Jenni Simczak Anderson, LA ‘01
***
first song
sung in unison
then
close harmony
yet time has passed
she sings solo
and finally
improvs
breaks my heart
Tom Stringer
***
Soft sunlight fleetingly warms
that which it illuminates.
In unison, shapely leaves improvise
intricate patterns here and there.
As I reflect, while breathing slowly and deeply,
on what is lodged sharply in my heart,
a bird's solo breaks forth, is heard,
and I loose sight of the nearby closed door
which within contains a beloved song.
Lisette Dennis
***
There’s much to learn from Jazz
A song that lives in the heart
Given freedom in glorious improv
Never truly solo, always with others
But never in unison either
Jazz is learning to cooperate
With nothing but the barest guide
There’s much to learn from Jazz.
— Chad Savage
The Search
Life starts as a solo game,
a singular improv dance,
each solitary heart alone,
seeking sweet romance
in the harmony of a song
sung in perfect unison.
Rebecca C Wood
***
Patio Concert
Late at night the instruments
Have a party for themselves.
The woodwinds play improv
Brass slings out a solo tune
Wooden spoons tap time together
Heartsong spreading the message--
Notes swirl in aspen unison.
Jo Schaper
***
Poem not about Music
Scammed to the bone by Unison Home Loan—
His worst decision ever--
He had a heart attack in the middle of the living room
Right after the surly creditors, singing a stupid song,
And before his desperate eyes,
Had taken all the furniture away.
There he lay: dying, and solo.
No one came to save him--
Not even anyone who could improv CPR
Robert Henke
***
Improv solo, deep in the flow
heart attuned beating in time to the song
the band rejoins in unison
Kwin
***
The viburnum bush on the patio
sways in the wind to its own song,
an improv, a solo, a paean to
the sunlight, the spring air, something
felt in the heart of the morning.
The trees sway in unison, a chorus
to the unfolding beauty of a new day.
— Mary Ellen Benson
***
improv song
sung solo
sung from the
heart
stronger still
when sung in
unison
Warren Hauff
***
solo songs delight
the heart more than
songs in unison
improv sounds even better
no chaos, no harmony
John J. Han
***
Duke Speaks from the Next World
Solo or
Improv
Unison or
Harmonized
As long as it has
Heart
What I mean is
Swing
james goodman
***
Earth Day
Entomologists tell us that the fireflies encounter too much
light. I offer my heart, this dark spot, where they may flash
their song -- that beating blink and shimmy -- their improv
of hope over the high grass. I can feel the thrum,
the lightning heat that comes in summer, the first glimpse
of their bodies hovering over the field
and then, my gift, this solo muscle pulsing in unison.
~~M. E. Hope
***
always improv
solo but
paradoxically
in unison
heart mind all
the song of living
by Lloyd Klinedinst
***
We can’t keep singing
the same old song.
It’s time for some improv.
Sing out your solo
loud and clear,
put you whole heart
into it!
Now stop.
Listen.
Singing in unison
doesn’t mean one note.
Do you hear it?
All those heartfelt
solos creating harmony.
Carol Haake
4/22/21
***
They begin together, these players, this unison band
a song we all know, can hum, can sing by heart
huddled on a dimly lit raft in a darkened room.
Then, the call to improv
the art of breaking apart
each taking a part
not solo for the sake of going it alone
but to bring more to the whole.
Steve Givens
***
I was out behind Parkview Place
with my soda and cig solo
as ever when two students
passed by and thought
they'd improv a little innuendo
in unison. Ah, my heart!
I had to look up "inane"
before I put it into my silly
song.
— Matthew Freeman
***
April 13, 2021
curled up late at night
pain in arm and chest
impossible to rest
pain continues unrelieved
take me to the ER, please
5:00 a.m. arrival, EKG
you've had a heart attack
you need a stent
the blockage is at 98 %
then, like a favored song
sung in harmony
well-rehearsed
in unison
they worked on me
no improv here
no solo part
they restored
my broken heart
J Kiefer
***
CHILLING THREE WAYS
Standing at center stage the three of us balked
Confusion still reigned though I thought we had talked
As improv demands, the first line is a solo
Then one-by-one quips from all three are to follow.
From Me with dry humor and bad jokes from Myself
I try to throw in some info about life, sex and heart health.
Mostly getting along and with most topics we’ll try
Still no song can be sung in unison by Me, Myself, and I.
TED
***
Improv
is the unison
of solo hearts
in song
— Rita Winters
***
Ukulele practice
It is easy to learn a simple song by heart.
To strum in unison with others—just follow the letters:
C-F-G7
But, watch and listen as a master adds notes,
improv, solo, fill the empty spaces.
So much to learn.
***
at the mall
one scrap of a boy
croons offkey
a song to his maw
an improv from
his heart
his solo in unison with
the canned music
Terrie Jacks
***
Headline image: Omar Flores via Unsplash