Melancholy Music

Posted bywordsandcoffee1Posted inPoetry, W3 PromptsTags:, , , , , , , , 
Youthful hand palms the crank,
twisting slowly, eager anticipation.
A melody twinkles, softly spiraling
like her dance,
all tipped toes and curled arms.

Frail, wrinkled hands grip the crank,
memories twirling back
of moments magniloquent,
bolder than life itself,
captured in her dance.

Ben provided us with a playful prompt this week for the Wea’ve Written Weekly. Below is the background and prompt guidance: 

There once was a prompt named “W3”
Calling writers of the world to see
How, mechanics gets hazy
When mechanisms go crazy
As this prompt shifts ‘gears’, suddenly!

This week, I invite you to step into a world of old-timey wonders—where cogs spin, gears click, and imagination runs on steam.

Picture a player piano humming to life…
A snow globe that sings and twirls…
A zeppelin drifting lazily across the sky…
Or the steady chug of a locomotive on the tracks.

We’re diving into vintage mechanical marvels: music boxes, paddle steamers, tractor engines, grandfather clocks, fob watches, steamships, penny-farthings—you name it. You can focus on one or weave together a chorus of whirring inventions in your verse.

Your challenge:
Craft a poem inspired by these bygone mechanisms—let your mind whirl and tick with poetic possibility. And here’s the twist: be sure to include the word magniloquent somewhere in your poem!

20 thoughts on “Melancholy Music”

  7. Sarah, I really love how you move from the “youthful hand” to the “frail, wrinkled hands”—there’s such a quiet ache in that. “Memories twirling back / of moments magniloquent” really stood out to me… so much feeling packed into that turn.

    ~David

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