Somewhere Over the Sun

After tweeting something or the other about my love of music the other day, a friend asked me why I never write any song lyrics. I replied, quite stupidly, that it’s because I’m no good at rhyming or melodies. She told me, quite rightly, that songs don’t have to rhyme and I don’t have to come up with the melodies. So I started thinking about what I could write a song about.

But, while juggling rewrites, continuous additions to books three/four (still haven’t decided which I’ll dedicate myself to first) and the occasional blog post, I was coming up with blanks for a song. I looked back at stuff I’ve written in the past in search of a piece that someone more musically talented than me might be able to turn into a song.

Before I formally challenge anyone reading this to try to add a melody to the following unstructured poem, I’d like to update on my plans to have a live chat session with my dear readers. Update: I still plan on having a live chat session. I’m sorting through some suggested sites and trying to improve my e-literacy before choosing a time and a place for it. Keep the suggestions for hosts/times coming!

And now, I challenge you, or someone you know, to turn the following words into lyrics. Add some guitar chords or some piano keys or a few gentle notes from a harmonica. Go a capella. Do whatever you want, just make it songy. If you do decide to take the challenge, please share your work with me. I’d love to see what people can come up with. This may be a good time to offer a free copy of Somewhere Over the Sun as an incentive as well. Enjoy!

i fell asleep beneath your blanket
i hadn’t felt its warmth since you caused it
i couldn’t separate you and me from us
though so much has
since this blanket last slept
the past lives here
in smells this blanket no longer carries
in the just now
afterthought
of soft, hurried kisses
which i couldn’t keep to myself
no matter the hour
this blanket
no matter how inanimate we are
no matter how un-alive it is
breathes you into me.

I’ve never been able
to make a poem
actually feel like
a poem.
All I get is
broken sentences,
a short story,
a complaint.

(but what clever line breaks!)

This non-poem poem originally appeared in The Vagus Nerve.

I can’t promise the kind of eloquence seen above, but if you’d like to receive a personal little somethin’ somethin’ from a published author, message me your address and I’ll send you a postcard! I’m accepting writing prompts and city requests (available city choices: Stratford, Canada; General Canada postcards; New York City; Las Vegas; Cleveland; Houston; Baltimore).

I’ve sent out three waves of postcards and I’m almost done checking everyone’s name off the list, so I’m more than happy to add more to the list.

Although this site’s main purpose is to promote my debut novel, Somewhere Over the Sun, I feel my marketing efforts have dropped off in the last couple of months. Mostly, this has to do with not a lot of book reviews or guest posts that I can link you to. Some of my readers may remember the writing contests, publicity contests, Quotation Fridays and other such shameless self-promoting to get people interested in my book. Well, I’m trying to think of more ways to get a large number of people to at the very least click on the About the Novel page on this site. Any ideas, dear readers?