PAD Day 25: Death and the Playlist

 Today's prompts:

WBP: Write a "homonym" poem (one that uses homographs or homophones).

NPWM: Write a poem based on questions in the "Proust Questionnaire," a list of personal and self-revealing questions that were apparently used as a parlor game or icebreaker in Victorian times. (Maureen lists 35 possible questions to work with; I won't list them all here.)

PSH: "One of my favorite prompts is the "Playlist Poem." Take one of your favorite sources for music playlists - Spotify, Sirius XM, broadcast radio station, your CD player or iPod (remember them?), etc. Now shuffle or randomize the playlist and take the titles of the next five songs on the list. Write a poem on any subject that incorporates those titles into the text of the poem." (Bruce Niedt)

Yup, that's my prompt that Rick Lupert used for today. I think it was my son who originally suggested this prompt years ago, and I've used it several times since. (One of the poems resulting from the prompt was actually published.) When I first did it, I was still using my iPod, which has been retired now for years, but I still have my Apple Music library, so I used that for old-time's sake. One of the titles that came up made me think a lot about death and the afterlife, so I thought, why not use some of the "Proust questions" on Maureen's list that Death might ask you when he's come to take you away? As far as homonyms go, I might have to work them into another poem.

Exit Interview

 
When Death came to the door, I expected
a skeletal specter in a long hooded black robe
with a scythe. Instead, there was a handsome
white-haired man in a gray suit.
 
Hello again, he said.
“Hello again?”
Yes. I’ve been around three times,
but each time you cheated me.
The last time was your heart attack.
You didn’t notice me disguised as a doctor.
 
He had questions for me, an exit interview:
What is your greatest regret?
“That I didn’t take better care of myself.
My pictures in a mirror got more haggard
and frail every year.”
 
What is your greatest fear?
“That there is no afterlife.
That I will be like the ghosts in the wind,
groaning through the tree branches
with no destination.”
 
If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing,
what would it be?
“A dog, maybe. Dogs generally have a pretty good life.
A golden retriever would be nice.”
 
How would you like to die?
“Do I really have a choice?
Certainly no violence, not even drowning
in a river. In bed, I think, in my sleep.”
 
I believe we’re ready now.
“I always pictured you with a scythe.”
He reached behind his back.
Here it is.

 

All five questions that Death asked were in the Proust Queationnaire list that Maureen compiled. The song titles I used were:
Hello Again - Amos Lee
Pictures in a Mirror - Incredible String Band
Ghosts in the Wind - Richard Thompson
River - Aimee Mann (cover of the Joni Mitchell song)
Here It Is - Over the Rhine

I got pretty lucky with this list. One-word titles are usually not a problem, nor are more generic ones like “Hello Again” or “Here It Is.” The other two were more challenging, but the more unusual titles can push your poem into surprising or unexpected directions.

And here's a silly little limerick for the first prompt. Including the title, it contains five sets (twelve words in all) of homophones:

A Scene to Be Seen
 
Posh ladies and gents do adore
their beach spa, a golf course and more.
When it’s tea time at four,
And it’s tee time for “Fore!”
then they’re there at their shore club for sure.