The poet‑of‑the‑week for this week’s W3 Poetry Prompt #187 is A. J. Wilson (aka Poetisatinta Ange and A. J.). Her challenge is to write a piece of musical poetry inspired by an instrumental guitar track, Canción Triste, by Jesse Cook from the album Vertigo. The poem may take any form, but should be no more than 20 lines.
A musical poem? The ballad form immediately came to mind. Traditionally, it is written in quatrains: 8 syllables in the first line, 6 in the second, 8 in the third, and 6 in the fourth, with an ABCB rhyme scheme.
I’ve never written a ballad before, but I thought — why not? So here it is: my very first ballad. I hope you enjoy it.
Adios, Mi Amor
The guitar plays a soulful tune;
the strings strum softly, light.
Moonflowers scent the sultry air
in the quiet of night.
I walk the street where we once walked,
holding hands clasped so tight.
You didn’t want to say goodbye—
to leave, and go, and fight.
I drop coins in the busker’s cup,
who pauses his sad song.
He sees the tears that fill my eyes
and mutters, “War is wrong.”
He strums another melody:
“Adios, mi amor”—
the love song you once sang to me
before you went to war.
I listen to our old love song,
remembering before—
that night you whispered in my ear,
“Adios, mi amor.”
—Lesley Scoble, November 2025
Music Audio – Adios, Mi Amor 🎶
Canción Triste by Jesse Cook on the album Vertigo
THANK YOU
My gratitude to Ange, for the wonderful prompt.
And my thanks, as always, to David, The Skeptics Kaddish, for the constant inspiration and encouragement to write poetry.
My thanks to you, dear reader, for spending your time with my poem and song.
Click the link below to discover more about the W3 Poetry Prompt.
LesleyScoble.com 
Leave a reply to Violet Lentz Cancel reply