I wrote The Piano Exam in response to Nancyβs poetry prompt to compose fourβline stanzas with eight syllables per line. Nancy is this weekβs lauded PoetβofβtheβWeek for the W3 Poetry Prompt #216. To read her full prompt guidelines, click below.
Nancyβs prompt: Epic wins and spectacular flops
This week, letβs play with 8 x 4 forms: four-line stanzas with eight syllables per line (such as a the Cielito, the Long Metre, the Monotetra, the Redondilla, etc.). One famous example is Joyce Kilmerβs Trees:
I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree
A tree that will in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair…
For inspiration, think about a moment in your life when something truly mattered. Perhaps it was a great success, a hard-earned accomplishment, or a memorable disaster that taught you something important. Maybe you organized a major event, won a competition, survived a family vacation gone wrong, or confidently attempted a home-improvement project that ended in chaos.
Write about an occasion when you soared, stumbled, or did a little of both.
Guidelines:
- Use one or more 4-line stanzas;
- Keep each line to 8 syllables;
- Maximum length: 20 lines;
- Humor, reflection, triumph, embarrassment, and self-deprecation are all welcome.
As always, have fun and make the memory come alive for your readers.
I hope you enjoy my poem β and the song πΆ below.
The Piano Exam
I am 14 years old and taking a music exam playing the piano at the grand Conway Hall in London. This is a true story.
My arms are full of music sheets,
Chopin, Bach, in a major scale,
Judges sit stiffly in their seats,
I fear that I am bound to fail.
I climb the steps on to the stage,
The grand piano gleams bright black,
I tripβand scatter every page,
Oh no, oh dear, alas, alack!
I pick up the scrambled piecesβ
laugh nervously in a panicβ
while trembling hands smooth out creasesβ
Iβm shaking and feeling frantic.
Sitting on the piano stool,
I flex my hands⦠but then I frown,
Iβm feeling such a silly fool,
The music notes are upside down.
Finally, I begin to play,
My wrong notes plonk around the hall,
Judges stare in stern array,
Their faces blank as a brick wall.
I come to the end of playing,
The grim judges donβt smile at all,
They look as though they are praying,
From the stage I step down⦠and fall.
My music scatters once again,
Spreading over the great hallβs floor,
Chopin, Bach, Mozart, Beethovenβ¦
I want to flee straight through the door.
βLesley Scoble, June 2026
Audio – The Piano Exam – Song πΆ
I hope you have fun and enjoy this musical rendition.
Acknowledgements
Enormous thanks to Nancy Richy for her inspiring prompt.
My gratitude, as always, to David Bogomolny for his constant support and encouragement in his weekly prompts.
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