Greetings, intrepid poets! De Jackson here (aka WhimsyGizmo), and it’s that time again: Quadrille Monday, wherein we pen a poem of exactly 44 words (not including the title), using one word we provide. This will be our 50^th Quadrille, and if you’ve been with us since the beginning, you know we’ve already danced, twisted and kicked. We’ve dreamed and whispered. Today, I’d like you to murmur.

Murmur. Murmuring. Murmured. Heart murmur. Perhaps there are gifts of frankincense and murmur. Use it as a noun or a verb. Invent your own adjective or adverb form of it. Get hyphen-happy or parenthetical your way through. Just be sure some form of the word “murmur” appears in your poem.

In other (deeply satisfying) poetical news, did you know a flock of starlings can be called a murmuration? How gorgeous is that? Bird people are the best. Check out more poetic bird group names here, for future inspiration.

And since we’ve talked about the birds, we’d better give the bee a voice, too…

Here’s some more inspiration:

If you’re new to the Q, here’s what to do:

Murmur us something poetic in exactly 44 words, including some semblance of the word murmur. Get creative if you’d like, and have some fun with it, but please be sure some form the word “murmur” appears in your poem, and that your word count adds up to exactly 44, not including the title. Link it up by clicking Mr. Linky. Then make your way through the blogisphere to hear the murmurings of some incredible poets. The prompt is open for the whole week, so remember to come back and read (and write!) some more. Now, grab a pen or a keyboard…