My Internet bestie, Kevin Hodgson, has got a prequel newsletter going out for October’s Write Out 2024 and its theme of Poetry For The Planet. The poem for consideration is Jean Valentine’s ‘The Valley’.

I took the poem and made this from it:

Not Much

The edge? Not much,
The field? Not much,
Through the edge and field? Not much,
The rain? Not much,
The cold? Not much,
The slow? Not much, you know.

Then (since this is a poem with many repetitive figures) I decided to team up with GenAI ChatGPT and write lyrics in the style of Scroobius Pip’s “Thou Shalt Always Kill” which has similar repetitive figures.  Below is the lyrical collaboration as well as the original

 

Got it! I’ll use the provided lyrics as a starting point and write in the style of Scroobius Pip’s “Thou Shalt Always Kill.” Here’s a draft:

—

**Not Much**

The edge? Not much,
The field? Not much,
Through the edge and field? Not much,
The rain? Not much,
The cold? Not much,
The slow? Not much, you know.

Thou shalt not place your worth on the surface,
For the world sees not the heart’s true purpose.
Thou shalt not worship the mundane and bland,
The depth lies within, not in the plan.

The quick fix? Not much,
The shallow flicks? Not much,
The empty clicks? Not much,
The praise? Not much,
The craze? Not much,
The endless maze? Not much, you know.

Thou shalt seek meaning beyond the screen,
In a world obsessed with what’s rarely seen.
Thou shalt embrace the silence, the calm,
For the loudest noise can be no balm.

The fame? Not much,
The name? Not much,
The endless game? Not much,
The trend? Not much,
The bend? Not much,
The means to an end? Not much, you know.

Thou shalt not measure success by the shallow,
For the richest soil is found in the furrow.
Thou shalt find worth in what’s real and true,
In the quiet moments that re-define you.

The rush? Not much,
The hush? Not much,
The golden touch? Not much,
The show? Not much,
The glow? Not much,
The highs and lows? Not much, you know.

Thou shalt not covet what fades away,
For the truest treasures are gold and stay.
Thou shalt always kill the noise and hype,
And seek the rain and cold and field and edge and slow, not much, you know.