In his interview, Tawanda Mulalu talks about how the transitions and cycle of seasons serve as an archive of emotions in his life and consequently as a system of arranging and sequencing the poems in his book. Moreover, music and musicality play a major role he how dreamt his book into being as someone who plays some musical instruments and listens to a wide range of music. This writing prompt seeks to braid these two impulses together: If four musical instruments could capture your emotions and experiences during each of the four seasons in the year what four musical instruments would these be and for which seasons? Imagine yourself as these instruments, what sounds, what feelings, what experiences, what silences would you be an archive of? Write a poem that imagines you as these musical instruments describing the spiritual and emotional impact of the specific seasons as the seasons cycle and transition.

Read more in this issue: Interview | Critical Essay | Poems