The Poetry Marathon

Beth A. Fleisher

Hour 5

Prompt 5: Choose a picture and use it as the jumping off point for a poem.

Sunrise on Spirit Mountain

I open my eyes to the first glimmers of daylight,

reveling in the morning stillness,

that soft blue time before the world awakens.

He is standing in my line of sight,

maybe a half-dozen yards away,

one foot resting on a log,

Butterfly Flute in his hands,

waiting.

Peace encircles him.

As I watch, keeping the silence,

Grampa Sun comes up slowly over the mountain,

silvery gold glinting the tops of Douglas fir trees.

He puts the flute to his lips and blows his breath

into the flute, which sings out a flute song so pure

that all our relatives — birds, deer, squirrels, butterflies —

stop their morning rituals to listen.

The flute song,

born of this morning,

born for this moment,

creates perfect harmony between us and all things.

Flute song calls us to walk in beauty,

to love fully,

to forgive freely.

to help each other,

to dream new dreams.

As Grampa Sun is fully revealed, the flute song ends,

he lowers the Butterfly Flute,

and walks silently back to our sleeping bag.

I open my eyes and I am home in my bed.

Beth A. Fleisher

Hour 4

Prompt 4:  My own. 🙂

I’m Always Thinking of You

Wherever I am

whoever I’m with

whatever I’m doing

whenever I let my thoughts loose . . .

I’m always thinking of you.

Beth A. Fleisher

Hour 3

Prompt 3:  There are three stanzas. Each stanza is followed by a refrain (so the same statement is repeated three times).The first stanza is 6 lines long and presents a problem. The second stanza is eight lines long, and can explore or expand the problem. The third stanza is 6 lines long, and can either present a solution or document a failed attempt to resolve the issue.

Will I love You Forever?

You were so unexpected.

How could I possibly be prepared to find my soul mate

in such a crazy place, in such a crazy way?

Instant attraction, and so much more,

As you shared your story, we cried together.

But I saw the family photo on your desk.

Will I love you forever?

Connection overload

spiritually, emotionally, attractionally

white hot passion.

But you were not free, not for me.

I wept all the way back to campus,

Yelling at God:

How could you do this? Why?

Show him to me, but dangling him out of reach?

Will I love you forever?

Life moved on, we became friends, always careful friends.

Then, wonder of wonders, nine years later

you reached out to me — you had felt it too!

How amazing when I saw the love in your eyes

the first kiss, spirits dancing to Creator’s music,

hearts connected just holding hands at Panera.

Will I love you forever?

Beth A. Fleisher

Hour 2

Prompt: Create a Recipe not related to food on any topic. List 5 ingredients. One must be an emotion. The first item is the star attraction, mix it throughout. Add 2-4. Sparingly use 5. 10 minute timed write.

Recipe for a Lover

1. Laughter
2. Interruption
3. Attitude
4. Recovery
5. Broken bed

A perfect lover, who can find?

Is he a figment of my mind?

I’ll make my own and you will see

this lover’s perfect, just for me.

First ingredient, Lots of Laughter,

that’s the heart song I am after.

No matter what the night may bring,

the laughing heart can always sing.

Interruptions, yes they come,

sometimes many, sometimes one,

reaction to them makes the mood,

so add in an accepting attitude.

When in the throes, the bed frame breaks,

how long does the recovery take?

A laughing heart is quick to smile,

and strongly goes the extra mile.

Beth A. Fleisher

Hour 1

Prompt:  Write a poem about an influential woman you know personally.

DIRT AND DIAMONDS

Linda was born in the South, transplanted long ago to Oregon,

living in the country with husband, Bob, and inspiration-cat, Gracie.

Green fields, color-packed planters and free-form flower beds,

a homey house where you can take your shoes off, brew yourself a cup of tea

from dozens of choices, and settle into her living room couch for a chat

about anything from your kids to Black Lives Matter, work place politics to

spirituality, an inspirational book to a heartfelt thank-you letter from

one of her clients at the women’s prison.

Women mired deep in the dirt,

sometimes a hole they dug,

sometimes a hole dug by a friend or a lover.

Locked inside the facility to do groups for a few hours a day,

Linda changes lives, one woman at a time.

Women who don’t trust anyone,

especially not themselves,

women with no hope of a different future.

Or any future.

Until they encounter Linda: a petite 5’4” package of pure optimism,

a warm smile and astute blue eyes,

that ingrained Southern charm that catches you off guard.

Voice soft, inviting you to listen hard as she starts

rebuilding self-confidence and self-esteem,

day by day,

group session by group session,

until you know in your knower that you can do this!

Your past does not dictate your future,

only you

can limit how far you go.

You can discover diamonds in the dirt,

If you just do the work.

It’s okay if you don’t believe at first —

Linda will believe for you,

until you can believe for yourself.

Her influence reaches far,

But her heart reaches farther.

Exciting!! We’re off on The Great Poetry Marathon Adventure!

Hi, my name is Beth and I am a poet, writer, editor — and this is my first time doing the poetry marathon. I’ve been a bit stagnant as a poet, focusing on other writing, but have felt that tug to start writing poetry again. So when this opportunity hit my inbox, it sounded like the perfect way to do that! And also a great way to stay away from the stress of the news cycle!

How am I preparing for this? I have literally dozens of snippets of poems that have been floating around in my brain, so I’m fairly confident of having enough ideas, plus we’ll have the other prompts. I have some prompt options, too. Mostly I’m focusing on high energy snacks and stocked in lots of water and juice. I can’t have caffeine, so I am at a disadvantage to all you lop and coffee drinkers. However, I do have plenty of chocolate, my stimulant of choice!

Looking forward to hanging out with all of you on the Facebook page! 🙂