NaPoWriMo ‘25 Day 19

Our prompt for today was SO interesting! Inspired by Brigit Pegeen Kelly’s poem “Song”, the prompt said:

“The poem has a timeless, could-have-happened-anywhere/anywhen quality that I associate with blues and folk ballads – including murder ballads (a subgenre of song dealing with a gruesome crime, first arising from broadsheet ballads sold at English executions, and which later came to America in forms like “The Knoxville Girl” and then morphed their way into country music).

Today, we’d like to challenge you to write your own poem that tells a story in the style of a blues song or ballad. One way into this prompt may be to use it to retell a family tragedy or story, or to retell a crime or tragic event that occurred in your hometown.”

I love all things dark and gory! I had an unhealthy obsession with horror and slasher movies as a child, but am terrible at storytelling, so this prompt was my dream and nightmare (pun intended) all at once.

No, what! No, this story is definitely not a broad, dramatic metaphor about a heartbreak I went through at the age of 19 what are you talking about-