Pokes softly with sticks (5)

I believe the answer is:

prods

'pokes' is the definition.
('prod' can be a synonym of 'poke')

'softly with sticks' is the wordplay.
'softly' becomes 'p' (short for piano, musical term for softly).
'with' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'sticks' becomes 'rods' (I've seen this in another clue).
'p'+'rods'='PRODS'

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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