One night, / a / few / moons ago I

Inspiration: “Snow on the Beach”

When Taylor Swift sings “Snow on the Beach,” she makes interesting choices about when to pause (and emphasize a single word) and when to string multiple phrases and sentences together (to emphasize forward momentum). This two-part prompt asks you to employ this same strategy: to change up your normal writerly pacing to create surprising points of emphasis. (In other words, to make something weird and beautiful…like snow at the beach.)

One night,
a
few
moons ago I
saw
flecks
of what could’ve been lights
But
it
might just have been you
Passing by unbeknownst to me Life
is

Part 1: Take about five minutes and describe something (real or imaginary) that happened “one night a few moons ago.” In your description, include as much detail as possible. Also, try to include the name of an artist, a mode of transportation, and at least one thing that “might” or “could” have been something else.

Part 2: Now take five minutes and rearrange your writing from Part 1 into a combination of short, medium, and long lines. (If you want a model for this, experiment with Taylor Swift’s per-line word counts in this song. Here are some words-per-line patterns she used:

2-1-1-3-1-1-5

1-1-5-6-1-3-1-1

6-3-1-6-3-7

4-4-4-3-1-2-9-5-5-5)