Poets need to understand words, sounds of letters and the rhythms of speech formation in ways more intimate than the reader or the writer of prose.I want to take you on a journey and show you how I tackled a poetry challenge.

I was given the words PEACH, PAISLEY, PACHABEL, PERIDOT to write into a poem. To me these words fitted into a romance a seduction scene with two players and some music.

Here is the finished piece

Cannon in D

The peridot peacock preens and prances
prances and preens
power  exudes
from his pose

this display raises my pulse

a pulse beats in my neck 
above the peach paisley
of my shawl.

The slow reverberation of bass notes 
entwined with the lustrous 
rise of violins
touch inner chords
to create an atmosphere
for sharing.


The sounds - speed -twine
-curve like rising pheromones.

I shudder as my peach paisley 
slips across
my skin.

The peridot peacock
preens and prances
Pachabel's music adds life and lustre
subtle refrains build -

I stand and pose and preen
I mirror, I smile 
the suspense peaks
and power transfers.

We move in unison softly touch
 - twining -speeding.

peridot peacock
rocks
peach paisley
with Pachabel.

MaryB.

So my thinking was Pachabels  music his Cannon in D as a piece of music to try to emulate.  I don't know if you have heard it, its a beautiful piece of music and its made up of repeating refrains so I wanted to replicate that in the poetry. I needed repetition within the poem and repeats and I also wanted repetition of p and s sounds.I used alliteration but I also wanted to use euphony and letters beginning with p are associated with masculine , power and pride ..s words are associated with secrets and sensuousness so accentuating these sounds would help set the mood of the piece(I hoped!).
I choose words with p and s with the connotations that I wanted and I choose words with p and s in the centre to keep the sounds progressing.
My word choice preens gives me the p and s sound ...it means devoting time to making oneself look attractive fitting my lover who is a peacock.
prances again gives the p and s sounds ...it is also making exaggerated movements ..that will get noticed.
Then those words are repeated but reversed like the steps of a dance.
He poses and exudes power ...and the narrator is interested excited.
Romance is building so those s sounds come to the fore.
Combined with t which adds a trembling sound - entwined, trailing, atmosphere.Plus the slithering s tones of  sound, speeding, shudder, unison, softly.
I continue with the repetitions but  add the sound of l which can be a sound of lightness and clarity.
So the mood of the poem is built, the emotion heightened.

I formulated a list of potential words, I checked meaning and connotation and picked the words with care.I tried to continue using my sounds and refrains to echo the refrains in the music.
This poem is also is an extended metaphor.

Now you might not like this poem it may not appeal to you.But read it aloud feel how the words flow together hear the sounds and think about how you choose  words  in your poems.