The Poetry Marathon

I’m sitting here

Trying to write something

The clock is ticking

And my head is spinning

Trying to be creative

But nothing is coming

My words are falling flat

I’m wondering if this is all I have?

Most of our seniors are lonely

They’re craving connection

Affection

Or just plain interaction.

They live in these buildings

With people they don’t know

And we call it their home

But home is not just somewhere that you go

It’s the feeling of being safe and warm

It’s the people you call family

That urke and encourage you just the same

These homes we put the elders in

They’re lacking the human element.

So concerned with sanitation

But missing the key of sanity

Health is not hard to maintain

When the focus is on good relationships.

I see you

Hiding behind your busy schedule

Never making time

Someday you’ll realize

We only have so much time

I wonder if you’ll regret how you spent it.

Wandering hands

curious minds

observant eyes

growing girl.

It’s happening fast

This stage won’t last

I’m not ready

She can’t wait.

Everyday is an opportunity

A learning experience

A hint of magic

A reason to smile.

Twenty-four hours

So much is possible

But everyday I wake up

I do the same tasks from the day before

Wash the dishes, bathe the kids, wash the laundry, make the meals

Each day has a new responsibility

Adding to my neverending, overwhelming list

No one told me it’d be like this

I guess I should have guessed

But I never knew it was so lonely

Joining Motherhood.

And everyday brings a new memory

A new reason to smile

It’s not an easy life

But it’s mine and I love it.

I can do this

Almost halfway

I can do this

I can see the end

I can do this

I continually chant

Because I truly believe

I can do anything I want.

I put my headphones in

I lock myself in my room

Blasting my music so I can’t hear

Your screams are piercing through

I know what you’re saying

But I don’t want to

The same fight you always have

She’s lazy

He’s cheating

She’s hurting

He’s leaving

The venom in your words is poisonous

You don’t hear the cries of your children

The pleas we beg for the fighting to stop.

In the end, it just destroyed us

Tore the family apart

And left us abandoned

It even took our house.

But yet, it continues

Despite that you’re separated

Always putting us in the middle.

He makes me laugh when I’m close to tears,

And holds me tight when I feel I may fall apart.

He dries my tears when I can’t see the kleenex,

And he makes it feel like home when I feel alone.

I’m not sure if he realizes just how much he does,

So much more than food on the table

And a roof over our heads.

It’s the way he holds and looks at our daughter,

The way he can laugh at almost anything.

It’s the way he encourages even the smallest thing,

And the way he always lends a helping hand.

I truly do love this man.

I want to do something meaningful

But what?

I want to be happy

But how?

With so many options

How do I decide?

I’m tired and frustrated

But why?

I want to travel

But where?

All of these questions and no answers

Where do I start?

My head is pounding with ideas fighting to be heard.

I’m straining to listen.

There’s so many.

I can’t concentrate.

It seems overwhelming.

So I put my pen to paper and sigh a breathe of relief,

As the thoughts I couldn’t hear

S

P

I

L

L

out of me.

I look down to see, staring up at me

The words I was trying to say.