Day 5 of NaPoWriMo prompt is inspired by musical notation, and particularly those little italicized –and often Italian – instructions you’ll find over the staves in sheet music, like con allegro or andante. First, pick a notation from the first column below. Then, pick a musical genre from the second column. Finally, pick at least one word from the third column. Now write a poem that takes inspiration from your musical genre and notation, and uses the word or words you picked from the third column.
1sr column – “play terribly”
2nd Column – chamber music
3rd Column – bones
In this poem, the performers are less a quartet and more a support group—bound by shared dissonance, ghosted intentions, and unspoken truths. The music they make is flawed and raw, yet honest. The result isn’t performance—it’s survival. Poetry, like bad music played well, still finds a way to echo in the bones.
🎻Chamber Requiem (con disastro)🎻
play terribly
We gathered in the parlor
where dust played first violin,
and the piano sighed like old bones
tuning themselves for the end.
No conductor, just the ghosts
of our better selves,
missing notes like memories
slipping through stiff fingers.
You on cello,
your bow a broom
sweeping ash from yesterday’s sonata,
me on broken clarinet
whistling grief in reed-thin breaths.
We played terribly—
on purpose, I think.
Dissonance was our truth,
chamber walls holding back
the flood of all we couldn’t say.
Each note a fracture,
each rest a grave pause.
Still, we played.
And in that unholy symphony,
the bones danced.
April is National Poetry Month, a time to celebrate the power of language and the music of the soul. Poetry, like music, offers a space for reflection, discord, and catharsis. To honor this month, I wrote “Chamber Requiem (con disastro),” a piece inspired by the strange beauty found in imperfection. Using the prompt “play terribly,” the structure of chamber music, and the word bones, I composed a poem that reflects the fractured harmonies of grief and memory.
You can discover a wide array of poetic voices taking part in National Poetry Writing Month by exploring the hashtag #NaPoWriMo across social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. You’ll find writers of all backgrounds sharing their daily verses, prompts, and reflections throughout April. For a more curated experience, visit www.napowrimo.net, the official hub for the NaPoWriMo community, where a new prompt is posted daily along with featured poems from participants around the world. It’s a beautiful way to connect with fellow poets, spark creativity, and immerse yourself in a month-long celebration of poetry in motion.
Read more poems from National Poetry Month #NaPoWriMo