This exercise grew out of the previous one about directly addressing an inanimate object. In this exercise, you will write from the point of view of an unexpected object. Here are a few examples:
They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul : This song is entirely from the perspective of a nightlight.
Korn - Take Me : Written from the point of view of a drug that is taunting or tempting an addict
Marcy Playground - The Plant Song : This one is iffy, but it seems at least some of it is written from the point of view of a plant (or a person in an altered state wondering about feeling like a plant).
Weakerthans - Plea from a Cat Named Virtute : Kind of obvious, but from a cat’s point of view. While a cat is not inanimate, it does give us an unexpected point of view.
Mountain Goats - Supergenesis : From the point of view of the snake in the Garden of Eden.
So, for this exercise, write from the point of view of an unexpected object. It doesn’t have to be inanimate, but it can be. Write a little excerpt from a strange point of view. It can be in lines or paragraph form. Again, maybe note the object and intention below the writing to help us reading.
You certainly left an impression
Spending the night smothering me
I much prefer your sister’s cashmere and silk
Or nothing at all, to your scratchy week-old denim that’s
Been soaking in the filth
Each stain tells a story that mostly you’ve forgotten
But I could sing to you about every one
And my arms are shredded with
Insides sneaking out
From your three-times ex’s
Blue-eyed Russian cat
You rushed into the office office after rubbing in your drool
But your cells are a part of me
Your breath, your sweat, your half-chewed food
I’ll see you early this evening
When you have nothing left to do or lose
NOTE: I tried writing from the POV of a couch. Trying to paint the owner of the couch as a slob who kind of has nothing going for him. But, in some sense, the couch yearns for his presence even though it seems unhealthy.
Mom and Dad and Rosie June
Sitting in a room
Looking for a lost thing
That I can see beneath me
Mom and Dad and Rosie do
Not know what to do
And so they go out looking, I can
See above their roof
(music)
Look at tiny metal ants
What am I to you?
Just a thing that you program
I give you stops and cues
But is there any more to that
Have I any other use
Could I have planned all this?
Is this something one can choose?
(music)
Mom and Dad are sitting by
A makeshift granite tomb
Someone didn’t listen
Crashed into Rosie June
Could I have planned all this?
Could I have planned all this?
Could I have planned all this?
Is this something one can choose?
NOTE: POV of a traffic light