Songwriting Without Boundaries (25 page)

Start by surveying some members of the prompt’s family and see what other families they might belong to. You’ll become very familiar with this process in Challenge #3. This is the ramp to get you there safely.

Find a colliding noun for each of the nouns below and write your sentence or short paragraph. Then do your ninety seconds.

Maple tree is _________

CAROLINE HARVEY:
The maple tree is an
elephant
.

It is hefty and anchored into the ground, swinging its branches in the spring breeze, swaying its bark trunk and sauntering heavily; bristly to the touch, rough hewn and covered in dirt. Slow, steady, and it remembers you as a child, climbing it with your sweaty palms and smooth feet.

GREG BECKER:
The maple tree is
the grandfather of the backyard.

Maple tree strong and old unwilling to budge, releasing its sap through the spikes that have been stuck in it, the old bull in the ring with swords dangling from its back and blood trickling down them as the sweet nectar of the maple tree is stolen by our greedy sweet tooth—the wise old maple tree weathered years of storms and fierce winds.

The
elephant
family has lots of members to choose from. I especially like “it remembers you as a child, climbing it with your sweaty palms and smooth feet,” and “the wise old maple tree weathered years of storms.”

Write your own.

Traffic is _________

CHARLOTTE PENCE:
The traffic is
desire stutter-stopping down Broadway
.

A scarf, a hair band, a tinny umbrella spoke ground down into the asphalt where you wait in this stalled dance of desire that groans and honks and birds and slices to the right. Each car is a link, an animal with its own whirring engine and downshift grit. The wheel under your hands is too smooth and the sky above you narrows to the width of your lane. And in your mouth is the taste of dry chrome as you inch up only to stop again, moving in an idling path of smoke, horns.

CAROLINE HARVEY:
The
hawk
of traffic flies by my LA apartment at vibrating speeds.

My couch rattles and I can hear the whoosh of cars, the honk of impatient horns, smell the toxic grey of smog. Somewhere there is an ocean; salty crystal waiting to dry on my skin and in my hair; somewhere there is sunshine waiting to color my skin with warmth. But here, in this apartment, there is only the zip of traffic’s wings, rushing past me on its way to kill, cars moving in an orchestrated hunt.

Hot spots: “this stalled dance of desire that groans and honks” and “the zip of traffic’s wings, rushing past me on its way to kill.” Note Charlotte’s use of the second version of expressed identity, “dance of desire,” and Caroline’s “the hawk of traffic.”

Your turn.

Sunrise is _________

CHANELLE DAVIS:
Sunrise is a
volcano.

A volcano of sunrise erupted across the horizon.

Orange and yellow light, lava flowing into the sky, taking over the land, slowly warming my skin, drying out dew on grass, rooster crowing …

GREG BECKER:
Sunrise is a
symphony.

The twill of the tiny robin was the first note of the sunrise symphony.

The slow steady climb of the sun, as it approaches the night sky over the horizon the world begins tuning up and preparing for its arrival at the horizon the symphony begins growing with birds, dogs, car doors …

Chanelle asked the color members of
sunrise
’s family to help find another noun: What else splashed orange, gold, and yellow into the sky? Ah yes, a
volcano
. Greg focused on
sunrises
’s sounds and arrived at
symphony
. Not so hard …

Now, you try.

Cathedral is _________

SUSAN CATTANEO:
The cathedral’s
eyes
sparkled in the evening sun as its stained glass pupils took in the city below.

White stone skin and head of spires, looming tall and statuesque over the smaller red roofs, God’s beauty queen looking down on her subjects …

CHANELLE DAVIS:
The cathedral is a
kaleidoscope
of colour and beauty.

Sun shining through stained glass ceiling, rainbows of colour, I look up and spin around on the marble floor, patterns blurring and repeating, changing with the light …

Susan took an extra step: The cathedral is a person, a person has eyes thus the cathedral’s eyes—the third form of expressed identity. Chanelle focuses on the multicolored cathedral and made it to something else multicolored. She could easily have used the third version of expressed identity, the
cathedral’s kaleidoscope
.

Your turn.

Policeman is _________

CHANELLE DAVIS:
The policeman is an
owl,
the way he swoops through the dark streets on his motorbike, wide-eyed and alert, hunting down the runaway prisoner …