Welcome to the pub word mongers! It’s no secret I love music and use it frequently when writing to quiet the outside world. If I’m being totally honest, like poetry, I use it frequently to hide from the outside world. And like poetry, the genera, style, form…doesn’t really matter.
Recent new adventures have led me deeper into the world of indie music, and like us wanna-be poets, it is a world that relies on community and relationships. Where would your pen have stalled without the support of your peers? Music has been my go to when “peers” were non-existent. The power of the lyrics, the message in the words and the desire to “write like that” has kept me bleeding the ink to pages even when I had no one willing to listen. “Freak on a Leash” is my personal theme song…this could explain much 😉
Do you write to music? Has it saved your soul? Kept you going on those days you thought you couldn’t? Do you rock a theme song, a sound track, a full blown concerto? What’s pumping through your headphones tonight as you settle in to hang with some of the most amazing wordweavers on the web?
Personally…I’m about to get down with the sickness…let’s crank it up and make some music.
Happy OpenLinkNight!
Here’s how to play along:
- Post a poem to your blog. We’re totally in free-flow tonight…write what you want, share what you want.
- Copy the post address and click the Mr. Linky button below.
- Here you will be requested to enter your name and the exact post address. Click submit…and you’re in.
- Once posted, revisit Mr. Linky to read the work of the other brave pens sharing with us. This is the most vital part of the dVerse Experience!
- Share, comment, like, love! We are community. Show the hearts that laugh, cry and bleed with us every week the love and support they deserve. We operate on poetic karma…here is one place where you truly will get back what you put in.
- Most of all…live poetically! May everyday inspire!
dVerse 
ha yeah..let’s make some music… when i was a teen, music was more important than anything else.. the only thing…can’t listen to music while i write or comment cause music always wins…so… let’s get that party started…happy OLN everyone and see you out on the trail.. and thanks for hosting tash
I’ve been known to get lost in a tune or two…always manage to find my way back…waiting for that one that will really whisk me away! 😉
I’m the same way!
Music is always a great refuge, we carry those songs that touch us throughout our lives. Happy Open Link Night everyone!
smiles…got a little musical roots myself…as i said on facebook, i think we need to do some mosh pit poetry tash…smiles…i do write to music…it helps my rhythm for sure…
happy OLN everyone…see you out on the trail….
I knew it! Couldn’t pull off those rhythms without muse! Feel it in almost every piece…and that is awesome! We could give a whole new meaning to the term Poetry Slam 😀
ha…true that…just making it back…the internet is out all down our street…so played with the boys a bit and have scooted out to catch and return a few comments…
Hello, everyone … Here’s a sketch from my recent business trip to Dallas.
Have at ‘er Poets…this is your show! Let’s rock it out…(My inner cheeseball will NEVER die) 😀
Hello Chaps !
Hope all are well : )
Jim x
Even half-deaf, I’ve always heard the music. I’ll be constantly whistling (even while writing) and people say, “What the hell is THAT?” I’ll tell them the tune and they’ll say, “Really? Sounds different.” They don’t recognize harmonizing parts and guitar fills I play. That way with poetry, too, right Tash? We all play our own tunes. That spirit makes this joint special! Have a great evening, Natasha and all! 🙂
You should see me rock my air guitar Joe…complete with whammy bar and effects pedals! 😉
I can’t write when someone is singing words, but I’m often inspired by or even become fixated on a phrase or sentence from a particularly gifted songwriter. Sometimes enough to put said lyric as a quote before the poem. My current favorite lyric is from The Shins, their Simple Song contains the line:
“. . . you feel like an ocean being warmed by the sun.”
My heart kind of hitches every time I hear it.
Here’s a link to the full lyrics, in case you like that line as much as I do. http://m.metrolyrics.com/simple-song-lyrics-the-shins.html
And here’s a link to the Letterman performance, which I enjoy more than the official video:
Awesome!!! ❤
I decided to play with sounds in a somewhat sad story. Thanks for hosting, Tash. I will be round this evening to read. Happy Open Link to all.
Pamela
I love to play with sounds! 🙂 but sad stories get to this sensitive soul! Happy OpenLinkNight Pamela…thanks for playing
oh yes, music is huge in my life… and i must say, tash, even your prose sounds like poetry (Where would your pen have stalled without the support of your peers?)
happy tuesday, happy reading & writing to all
Need you guys to know how important you all are to this pen! VITAL!!! Happy OpenLinkNight Ruth!
Hi today’s post is really the one about place but ran out of time! Again very little time to do other then write and post occasionally so apologies if I don’t get back to you. Wife’s daily hospital treatment starts next week but we have another potential health treat still to be resolved.
John…we appreciate you still finding the time to stop in…know the real world all too well when it comes to time…hope all is okay
Hoping and praying for a positive outcome for your wife John – in awe that you have found time to pop in here and encourae your fellow poets.
all the best for your wife john…hope the treatment goes well…blessings your way
Hello…. I’m a newbie here. Thanks for the opportunity to read the work of others and to share mine!
Welcome newbie…let the poetic hazing begin! 😀 Always awesome to see a new face…don’t worry…they’re gentle 😉
Thanks for the welcome! *quietly waits for poetic hazing….
I’ll second Tash’s welcome – will be over in a wee while to read.
Thanks Tony!
is it very wrong if i say, i third tash’s welcome…? smiles
🙂 I’ll take all the welcomes that come my way! Thank you!
ok dogpile….fourth! ha….nice rhythm to your words…
Thank you Brian! I am absolutely loving your work.
Forgive me for being a bit slow catching on how D’Verse works. Just wnated to say that I love it here 🙂
We love that you love it 😀 This place keeps me going more than they will ever realize!
ah – great having you and it’s a fantastic place with awesome people hanging around..try to meet as many as possible…smiles
glad you are here…really liked your place poem…and all the cultural references…
Excited to be able to join you all tonight!
Excited to have you Robbie! Happy OpenLInkNight
Fun intro Tash! I’m going to confess to some 80’s music today
I’m going to blame it on the treadmill…
She’s a maniac…maniac..oh dear…the eighties have been haunting me lately…this just fits right in 🙂 Welcome back!
I love music, though I don’t write it, cannot play an instrument, and really shouldn’t sing except in the shower and large crowds. But I have music playing most everywhere I go. These days I prefer music that encourages. This weekend I was encouraged to try my hand at a sestina to share today. I wasn’t sure I was going to finish it in time, but I did! Now it’s time for some lunch, maybe a little music, and some poetry reading. Peace, Linda
For all my effort…I’ve yet to master anything close to being able to play an instrument…a few riffs on this…a few beats on that…but I do love to pretend I can play the drums…everyone else will tell you I should stick to lunch and poetry! 😉
The music that goes with this poem is Yoko Ono’s “walking on thin ice” which I somewhat heart. See? Heart doesn’t work as a verb. grrrrr RUFF!
Works just fine for me…a purist I am not! 🙂
I posted a baseball poem on Poetics Sunday, and this is a follow up. I’ve put a link to each from the other if anyone wants to read both. I hope you enjoy them.
My taste in music so varies…but music stays with you for so long. Random lyrics remain in my brain from my youth. Now I long for music without words because it’s just so crowded in my mind! Either way, I hear you!
Dawn? I’m talkin baseball, and you’re talkin music! Sup? 🙂
Thanks as always for this wonderful forum. As for music, I worked as a musician (symphony oboist) for many years. But alas, I have no talent for musical composition.
However, I do write the occasional song parody lyric. Almost anything can set me off — even the Hokey Pokey, which inspired my That’s What The Law’s About. Here’s my first verse:
“You have to dot those i’s.
You’ve got to cross those t’s.
You have to seem so wise.
You must justify those fees.
And if you’re smart and lucky
You will turn your case around.
That’s what the law’s about….”
Encore! Encore! 😀
Mad, you are on such a roll–love that! Heard a comedian do a bit on AC/DC singing the hokey pokey–it was hilarious 🙂 I can totally see you playing oboe in a symphony!! You never cease to amaze–I played flute but only in college and mostly in marching band Ha! Haven’t played in years, but still love the thought of it
Thanks Tashtoo and Sara! Sara, I love the flute, which was actually my first instrument. Here’s a very old and very silly flute limerick of mine:
Second Chair Blues (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
“I play second chair symphony flute,”
Said the flautist. (”My wife plays the lute.”)
“How I wish I had clout!
Then I’d fire the lout
Who plays first chair. He’s here cause he’s cute.”
Musical Duo
Oh my gosh, the “chair” drama! What memories from just the title!! I did not have the ambition to move up, I just wanted to play. Though I did defend my lowly second to last chair 🙂
OOPs, sorry that comment was not a reply! Just a comment !
I feel you on the random lyrics running round…you might spot a few in my poetry 😉
While I work or write it’s jazz & classical all day long… but no vocals or I’m not coming back 😛
Lost in the lyrics? The poetry? 🙂
Happy Open Link night, Natasha and everyone 🙂
a delight to be here again.
music is one of my biggest inspirations while writing as well, especially classical and contemporary piano pieces.
I’ll take it! 🙂 Welcome back!
Happy open link night everyone! Have to share and run today as work is calling..look forward to reading many great poems later.
Cheers!
I sometimes write with music on, and it can be anything from Percy Faith to the Who. Usually, I need a little quiet when I edit and post. Thanks Tashtoo!
did you say the who..? now i’ll be humming pinball wizard all evening…
Thank YOU Mos! I can dig just about anything when it comes to my music…easier for me to tell you what I don’t like…but I’d honestly need a minute to really think about it!
Hi Tash. Thanks for hosting tonight.
I used to be able to work with music on pretty loud. Nowadays, If I’m reading or writing I need it quiet. Sometimes small snippets of what I’ve been reading recently seep into my poems – there was definitely a Metallica inspired part in All Fur Coats for example.
Music is still a pretty big part of my life though; like writing I find it gives a way of releasing emotional energy. I play guitar a bit too – strictly rhythm, no flashy licks for me.
i once had to go for three weeks to a medical treatment with my three kids to a hospital at the north sea and i took my guitar with me…met a woman there who was actually an opera singer and actor, so we went to the park, playing the guitar and singing and we had such fun… the kids are still talking about this…and they were quite small back then… oh and she gave me singing lessons in the evenings in deserted hospital ailes…ha…maybe there’s a poem in this..smiles
Definitely at least one poem in there I think. Singing lessons in the hospital corridors …
Wow, first time i’ve actually managed to get online this early for a tuesday in weeks. Forgot how quickly the pub fills up, very cool, should be a great couple of days of poetry as usual. Thanks for hosting Tash.
Fred here to rock the place early…how awesome is that! 😀
I only discovered a couple of days ago that there is this lovely community in comments, and I’ve been reading and posting almost a year! Doh! All those questions weren’t rhetorical after all, ha ha
You could get lost in here too! lol Fair warning!
Yo, Tash! Busy…will read later…Cheers!
cheers jackie….great to see you
Once again great to be here but mostly I do apologize for the last open link–I was too busy to read much!! I’ll be diving in today and tonight!! Love you all!
nice..have fun, diving in…and we love you too!!!
I usually have music playing while I write..helps set the mood sometime..
“and the band begins to play”
I love music! ‘Nuf said.
Marilyn Manson and Distrubed take me back to head-banging and the catharis or playing music so loud that the neigebours complain… I can’t listen to music while writing but nearly always do while designing, sometimes throws up new avenues to explore.
Would you believe I still get my neighbors calling 😉 Oh yes…I’ve an evil side about me too …keeps me young I say!
Makes me want to blast my music loudly tomorrow…
Cat Hill – sorry, but the use of “Marilyn Manson” and “throws up” in the same post was, for me, the old jazz lady, too funny to ignore!!! Sorry, no offense, just struck me funny! Amy
Made me giggle! Really should have re-read it a few times before hitting send….
I’m submitting really old one, which happens to be perfect for the Leonard Cohen/place prompt, but I was sick and didn’t link to that one in time. 🙂
After 30 plus years in nightclubs, piano bars, and touring, you’d think I’d be sick of music… but I tell ya, a strong cup of coffee or a cool Wisconsin microbrew and Jobim on the turntable (yes, I’m THAT old), and I am ready set go hand me the paper and pencil. Love everyone’s music choices. Sorry I’ve been absent… depression. Even Jobim can’t cure that, but it’s nice to keep me company! Amy
It always amazed me that Cohen’s poetry fit so well into musical form; really enhancing the words. At some of the open mic performances in Tacoma we had a sax player or flutist do riffs between lines; it was exhilarating. Took wife to Seattle for the Boeing Museum of Flight this morning, so arrived 2 hrs into OLN, and almost hit #84. How cool is that?
Putting out a piece about writing prompted by Brian’s question earlier. Music is wonderful. Don’t know if anyone has this weird experience where they write a poem and almost hear the music and rhythm that could go along with it? Only happened a couple of times but cool when it happens 🙂
I like music – I am more the listener than a maker though. 🙂
I’m linking up a few days late to Mary’s prompt–some of you have already visited, but for others, stop by and have a glass of wine in the backyard…:-)
Off for some much needed beauty sleep. I’ll be back on the trail, refreshed, in the morning.
Hi, Nothing to do with music, but feeding ducks 🙂 – a visit to the park. Alan
alright poets….dinner break…or heading back home and hoping the internet is back up there…if not…i will be back later tonight to catch up with newbies and return comment on any i skipped…
I loved Samuel’s post on the Ghazal, but simply failed to come up with one! Finally, The Arabian Nights was inspiration.
you did really well with the form ninot…
It’s been a long time since I dropped by. I haven’t been writing much lately either. But tonight I will read spend some time reading. 🙂
I can write to instrumental music only…sometimes. I do love music and to me words are not just symbols on a page, but also sounds. I write for the ear and not for the page…I have to. Even when I read I have to say the words in my head as I go. Flat on the page they don’t mean as much. It does make for slower reading though. Okay…time to enjoy some lovely sounds from you all.
Natasha, I’ll take a glass of bordeaux to start. 😉
hey you…hope you are doing well joanne….
Hi Joanne, thanks for dropping by my place. I do hope you find/have found something out on the trail to spark your muse .
went out on a limb on this one 😉 best wishes wishes everyone 😉
we wont lop it off behind you…ha….cute squirrel you caught there sir…
Hello there! I’m a first-timer from Portugal (#90 on mr. linky list)! Best regards to everyone!:)
welcome man…if you have any questions do let us know…enjoyed your piece and hope you take the time to enjoy a few as well…
Thank you Brian! Yes, it is a pleasure to be reading so many different yet talented voices… 🙂
I, too, am driven by music in my life and I often tie it into my poetry. Like this intro into Open LInk Night. I’ve posted an older poem tonight as dental work still has me in some pain so hope you enjoy. Cheers!
oh my…dental work…not fun…hoping that heals up soon for you….
Thanks Brian! Had a crown put in and today had to go back to get it adjusted. Feeling a bit better, though, but tired. Will have to get into looking at everyone’s posts but perhaps tomorrow as I had a late night so need to get some shut eye…as they say.
I’ve arrived late, as usual, and so happy to be here. I grew up with a grandmother who was a concert pianist, played the piano and organ myself and am so grateful. I think music flows in our poetry, consciously or unconsciously. Thanks for tending the bar tonight, Tash!
my mom and sister both played piano…the music i remember though is of old records….the scratchy pops…and cracks…
A little late. But I’ll play tonight. I look forward as always to reading greatest poems and word works of art and fresh voices alive. Glad Tash is tending bar. Cheers and leave a light on.
Sorry about sadness of song, but sometimes I have to give in to the muse in the shadow, especially in February. Maybe a cheerier song next time Tash. I’ll find something to play of daylight and maybe make you smile.
I’ve linked to an old piece. I couldn’t resist in light of the post. Thanks for the community.
hello carl…come on in…smiles…
I can’t listen to music and write…I’m too distracted by it. Music has an enormous impact on my life though. I can be incredibly moved and inspired by it…as I’m sure most people can. Thanks for the intro this week, Tashtoo.
your piece took me back gayle…it was awesome…smiles.
good morning….back and about to make my rounds… can i get a coffee..? smiles
good morning…got you a fresh pot right here…smiles.
see you in the morning…
Hi Tash – I am going a bit crazy here as going through a big move – a major part of it tomorrow, so living in the middle of boxes. It’s very stressful. I have a very silly poem -the music coming from me may be me banging my head against wall. Take care, k.
i will take silly…smiles…hope all goes well for you tomorrow k…
well, I wrote a rondeau.. so the melody for Flanders fields shouls be possible to use.. 🙂
Hi, love the music….My song was sad today….missing my father.
good morning poets…coffee flowing…and rolling round the verse…have a great day…will be around at lunch…
Music is a very important part of my life, but it’s not necessarily what inspires me to write. I become very particular when I’m in that half-crazy creative space needed to write, and mostly I prefer silence. In fact, I become quite cranky if there’s not enough of it.
Lately I’ve been very aware of music’s ability to motivate one to exercise. There are even research findings about it: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/phys-ed-does-music-make-you-exercise-harder/
So what if it took me 10 weeks to write and post a poem! I’m glad I did write eventually…thanks to you, OLL!! Love ya!
FINALLY!!!! After so long I’m here… I could almost cry! 😀
Missed you guys 🙂 😉
Didn’t post this week but popping in to visit and read for a little while just the same. Natasha, loved your welcome! I like all kinds of music from Celtic to country, contemporary to good ol’ classic rock and roll, but I mostly find myself writing when everything is quiet and still and I can hear my inner voice. A happy OLN to all! 🙂
Phew – glad I made it here in time to post – it was relatively close but this is a prompt that speaks (or maybe I should say sings) to me…However, I came back to check it out again before I continued commenting on poems – So far every one I’ve gone to hasn’t seemed to have much to do with musical muses really (or it could be I’m misinterpreting the poems – wouldn’t be the first time) – and I’m such a literalist, my poem goes there in a very linear fashion.
Also, I wanted to say that music has quite literally (there’s that word again) saved my life from time to time. I have certain “mixed tapes” – yes, I still own a cassette player (still own a turntable actually – did finally retire my 8-tracks when I stopped driving a school bus part-time and no longer had access to a player) that I can’t junk, even if I have the songs on CD or my iPod.
And there are songs that are perennial favourites – do other people have that – songs that never go out of fashion for them – a forever hit list that you can play if you’re happy, or ones to play if you need to be pumped up, or if you’re sad and need to be sad? I’m interested to know how other people’s collections measure up in this regard…
Are there songs that never grow old for you?
I must say, my tastes are eclectic and even if I love an artist, I usually can’t stand a whole CD or album by one person at one sitting (which I’m sure says more about me than the artist) but I do love hours of my favourites mixed together – anytime.
As is evidenced by my poem – Janis Ian is one of my long-time favs… how about you?
http://nsaynne.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/janis-ian-is-my-muse/