The Muse Galaxy

A. Music Prompts

1. The Future – Leonard Cohen

Give me back my broken night
my mirrored room, my secret life
it's lonely here,
there's no one left to torture
Give me absolute control
over every living soul
And lie beside me, baby,
that's an order!
Give me crack and anal sex
Take the only tree that's left
and stuff it up the hole
in your culture
Give me back the Berlin wall
give me Stalin and St Paul
I've seen the future, brother:
it is murder.

Things are going to slide, slide in all directions
Won't be nothing
Nothing you can measure anymore
The blizzard, the blizzard of the world
has crossed the threshold
and it has overturned
the order of the soul
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant
When they said REPENT REPENT
I wonder what they meant

You don't know me from the wind
you never will, you never did
I'm the little jew
who wrote the Bible
I've seen the nations rise and fall
I've heard their stories, heard them all
but love's the only engine of survival
Your servant here, he has been told
to say it clear, to say it cold:
It's over, it ain't going
any further
And now the wheels of heaven stop
you feel the devil's riding crop
Get ready for the future:
it is murder

Things are going to slide ...

There'll be the breaking of the ancient
western code
Your private life will suddenly explode
There'll be phantoms
There'll be fires on the road
and the white man dancing
You'll see a woman
hanging upside down
her features covered by her fallen gown
and all the lousy little poets
coming round
tryin' to sound like Charlie Manson
and the white man dancin'

Give me back the Berlin wall
Give me Stalin and St Paul
Give me Christ
or give me Hiroshima
Destroy another fetus now
We don't like children anyhow
I've seen the future, baby:
it is murder

Things are going to slide ...

When they said REPENT REPENT ...



2. Striptease – Hawkley Worksman
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3. Hate Me – Blue October


I have to block out thoughts of you so I don’t lose my head
They crawl in like a cockroach leaving babies in my bed
Dropping little reels of tape to remind me that I’m alone
Playing movies in my head that make a porno feel like home
There's a burning in my pride, a nervous bleeding in my brain
An ounce of peace is all I want for you. Will you never call again?
And will you never say that you love me just to put it in my face?
And will you never try to reach me?
It is I that wanted space

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you

Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what’s good for you

I’m sober now for 3 whole months it’s one accomplishment that you helped me with
The one thing that always tore us apart is the one thing I won’t touch again
In a sick way I want to thank you for holding my head up late at night
While I was busy waging wars on myself, you were trying to stop the fight
You never doubted my warped opinions on things like suicidal hate
You made me compliment myself when it was way too hard to take
So I’ll drive so fucking far away that I never cross your mind
And do whatever it takes in your heart to leave me behind

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn’t do for you

Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what’s good for you

And with a sad heart I say bye to you and wave
Kicking shadows on the street for every mistake that I had made
And like a baby boy I never was a man
Until I saw your blue eyes cry and I held your face in my hand
And then I fell down yelling “Make it go away!”
Just make a smile come back and shine just like it used to be
And then she whispered “How can you do this to me?”

Hate me today
Hate me tomorrow
Hate me for all the things I didn’t do for you

Hate me in ways
Yeah ways hard to swallow
Hate me so you can finally see what’s good for you
For you
For you
For you



4. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted? – Jimmy Ruffin

As I walk this land of broken dreams
I have visions of many things
But happiness is just an illusion
Filled with sadness and confusion

What becomes of the broken hearted
Who have love that's now departed
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Maybe

Fruits of love
Grow all around (all around)
But for me they come a-tumbling down (a-tumbling down)
Every day heart aches grow a little stronger
(Just a little stonger)
I can't stand this pain much longer
I walk in shadows searching for light (searching for light)
Cold and alone no comfort in sight
(No comfort in sight)
Hopin' and prayin' for someone to care (someone to care)
Always movin' and going nowhere

What becomes of the broken hearted
Who have love that's now departed
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Help me please

I'm searching though I don't succeed
(I don't succeed)
Someone's love there's a growing need
(Such a growing need)
All is lost there's no place for beginning
(No beginning)
All that's left is an unhappy ending
Unhappy ending

Now what becomes of the broken hearted
Who have love that's now departed
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
I'll be searching everywhere
Just to find someone to care
I'l be looking every day
I know I'm gonna find a way
Nothing's gonna stop me now
I'll find a way somehow

What becomes of the broken hearted
Who have love that's now departed
I know I've got to find
Some kind of peace of mind
Baby
Oh yeah
What becomes of the broken hearted
Who have love that's now departed
What becomes of the broken hearted
Who have love that's now departed
What becomes of the broken hearted


5. In the House of Stone and Light – Martin Page
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B. Quotes

1. Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing. – Anais Nin

2. I'm the foe of moderation, the champion of excess. If I may lift a line from a die-hard whose identity is lost in the shuffle, "I'd rather be strongly wrong than weakly right." – Tallulah Bankhead

3. The real question isn't whether or not you love your kids, but how well you are able to demonstrate your love and caring so that your children really feel loved. – Stephanie Marston

4. All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome. – Tactius

5. Man's enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself. – Lao Tzu

C. Words

1. Provocative
2. Apathetic
3. Delusion
4. Trite
5. Desecrate

D. Prompts

1. Create a new holiday, and explain what it means and how people should celebrate it.

2. You often hear people say, "You'll never understand another person until you've walked a day in his or her shoes." Choose a person in your life and walk a day in his or her shoes. Now write about it.

3. You've been given an opportunity to be a contestant on your favorite game show. Write about your experience, your interaction with the host and how you made it to the final round with a chance to win.

4. You have entered the witness protection program. You have a whole new life, new identity and new job. Write about your first day, in the new place.

5. A close friend has a life-altering decision to make and asks you for advice. What advice do you give? Write the conversation between you and your friend.

6. The love of your life is getting married to someone else. In a last-ditch attempt to win the love of your life back, you bust into the wedding and profess your love mid-ceremony. Start your story with the line, "Don't say yes!"

7. Write a story about two family members who are competing for the affection of the same person.

8. You're late for work because you overslept, but your boss hates over-sleepers. He does love entertaining stories, so create the most outlandish excuse as to why you were late.

9. You're riding an elevator when the power goes out. The situation take a turn when the pregnant woman next to you goes into labor.

10. A friend knocks on your door. An emergency has come up and they must leave town immediately—only problem is they need someone to watch over their very unusual pet.