NaPoWriMo Day 1

Today's quote: "The poet doesn't invent. He listens." ~ Jean Cocteau

Today's prompt (from www.readwritepoem.org):

1. Put your iPod or iTunes (or other mp3 player) on shuffle. (If you don’t have a music player that shuffles, you can choose CD or album titles at random from your collection by writing several titles down on little slips of paper … works the same way.)
2. Write down the first five titles that come up. No cheating allowed!
3.. Use all five titles to draft a new poem. They have to be used intact — you can interrupt them with punctuation, but you may not remove or change words.

Today's poem:

Memory Lane

“That's the place”, you say softly,
Gazing across a busy street
Seeing people long gone
And you, as a child,
Chasing your brothers down corridors
As the old apartment protected your youth.

It's a fast-food place now,
Neon lights, plastic chairs
And disposable lifestyles.
We venture inside,
You screw up your eyes
Until plastic tables become a battered wooden one,
The toilets, part of a bedroom.

We exit swiftly, without a sound,
And I steer you back
To the warmth of the car,
Placing silent kisses on your shoulders
As you regain your strength.
“Make it all okay”, you murmur
And I nod, driving away
As we continue road tripping down memory lane.

Song titles used:

“The Old Apartment”
“Brothers”
“Sound”
“Road Tripin'”
Make It All Okay”

So, day 1, and off to a running start. I really liked this idea for a prompt, although I was lucky to be given very usable titles. It shows that inspiration can come from anywhere, and often from the last place you would usually think to look. The challenge to use what may be unusual words or phrases in your poem also allows for something different and fresh to be produced. A good start for what should now be spring, and I'm writing this with sunlight streaming in from the window next to me! I also thought the musical quote was rather apt!