
A Prelude
There’s music
in the sea air, it’s
in the damp plaster walls
and the grey shining windows.
Music’s in
the stained mattress
and the rusty taps that once
spilled with water. It leaves its
mark behind photos on the wall.
Music falls in tiers,
peals off the shingle beach,
floats on the sea in this place
where music begins.
Miz Quickly’s “Prelude” supplied a music prompt, Debussy PrΓ©lude Γ l’aprΓ¨s-midi d’un faune – Leonard Bernstein. Shared with @Experimentsinfc #APoemADay on Twitter Β Β©Misky 2021
27 responses to “Miz Quickly’s Prelude”
The picture and your words feels haunting
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Iβve always thought that this Prelude is haunting. I played it as a kid for a piano recital many decades ago.
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And you can play the piano. You are quite intimidating, young lady.
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π€£ β¦ piano and the tuba and the base drum, none of which, unlike a guitar, are easy accompaniment around a campfire after a long hike. My mother was very musical.
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Somehow, I can’t imagine the tuba. Marching band?
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No, high school music. We had to learn one new instrument each quarter.
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There is music in everything Misky, and especially this poem!
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I so agree!
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So true, and thank you, Hobbo.
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Also appreciate Debussy. Great minds.

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Did you follow the link to Miz Quicklyβs prompt? A very interesting write-up about the music and the poem that inspired it.
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No I didn’t see a link – I read most posts in a reader which sometimes doesn’t pull everything through. I’ll take another look.
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https://imprompt.wordpress.com/2021/06/12/prelude/
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This might be one of my favorite thing’s you’ve written! The melding of music to the elements!
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Thanks, Q!
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This is a wonderful response to the prompt. Love the last stanza, in particular.
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Thank you, B.
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This brought back memories for me!
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Lovely. Iβm glad.
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Misk, this is such a winning combo,
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Thanks! π
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Perfect prelude of imagery, and then into the music. I can hear that rusty tap dripping. Adding this one to my chap book where I store lots of favorite posts. π
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I am delighted you liked it, K.
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Ah… so that’s what a small beach is… a shingle beach. There are several shingle beaches on the Mississippi in Wisconsin.
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No, shingle is what you’d call small pebbles. Small as in the size of your little fingernail (assuming that your nails are short). The beaches along the Sussex coastline aren’t sand; they’re shingle. When the waves hit shingle, it makes an enormous amount of noise.
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Ah… thanks for the clarification π
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β€οΈ
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