Moon-Shaped

On 
a frosty

     night, stars careen,
     blow themselves to

                  smithereens,
                  and drift like snow

                             in a symphony 
                             of moonlight. 

                             Play as if about to cry,
                             suffused with inspiration:

                             thrum strings of a moon
                             -shaped guitar, pluck 

                             notes like butterflies,
                             bones and birds. Chords 

                 have their own tongue. Words
                 are not required, 

     only the silver tunes
     of a guitar shaped 

like the 
moon.

Kim M. Russell, 5th April 2025

On Day 5 of NaPoWrimo, the featured resource for the day is the online collection of Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, and we are encouraged to “peruse their images of beautifully designed and varied musical instruments, ranging from a guitar shaped like the moon to a rattle in the form of a bird that is peering suspiciously at any potential wielder.”

Today’s optional 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. We should pick a notation from the first column of the chart which has been provided; pick a musical genre from the second column; and pick at least one word from the third column; and then write a poem that takes inspiration from the chosen musical genre and notation, using the word or words picked from the third column.

I was inspired by the moon-shaped guitar and the phrase “play like you are about to start crying”, and chose the symphony as my genre, as well as the words snow, butterflies and bones.

Also linked up to dVerse Poets Pub Open Link Night on 10th April 2025.

51 thoughts on “Moon-Shaped”

    1. Thank you, Merril. I haven’t been to a museum or gallery in a while, not since the van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery in London. But now Norwich Castle is open, which is a museum and a gallery, I hope to visit it soon.

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      1. You’re welcome, Kim.
        We visited the Museum of Fine Arts years ago when our older child lived in Boston. We do try to get to museums in our area, but we haven’t been recently. I hope you get to Norwich Castle!

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  6. Beautiful poem, I loved this part especially : “notes like butterflies,
    bones and birds. Chords

    have their own tongue. Words
    are not required,” , and of course, many of my hats off for placing it all within a shape as well.

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  7. Stunning work done, Kim! 😍 I love the structure and layout of the poem especially the image of “Chords have their own tongue.” Yes, absolutely! 🩷🩷

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  14. Hi Kim, it’s Chris here! It’s been a while since I’ve read our fellow dVersers’ poems, so I’m glad I finally got around to this one: the “moon-shaped” form is beautiful in its own right, but so too is the symmetry of the star-strummed guitar that gives the poem its internal image. Thanks so much for sharing!

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