The Poetry Marathon

perfect posture

Priya has put the pot
On her head … & left it there
Oh why is she doing this
Poor girl she’s hardly said boo
To me or anyone the 3 days
She’s been travelling with us
& now this strange attention
Seeking behaviour from nowhere
I hope she’s not feeling
Left out &/

                /Wait what’s going on
This is weird. She’s walking round
Picking up things. With her toes.
The pot still, unmoving, as if glued
On her head. We all start watching
Intently as she kicks Ben’s apple
Core upwards & wiggles her neck
catches it in the pot. Despite our
cautionary silence. We all cheer.
Now she’s dancing. Russian squat
Irish River. Twerking. Flossing.
The pot a part of her as much as her hair.

But the best thing — her eyes glow
In the firelight & she’s grinning like a tiger

This was fun! Great fun!!

REDACTED

here’s what we know : there are ⬛️⬛️ types of ⬛️⬛️⬛️ : currently on this ⬛️⬛️⬛️ : there’s the ⬛️ : which we think are at least partially ⬛️⬛️⬛️ but mostly ⬛️⬛️⬛️ : then there’s the : ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ things : of the two : the ⬛️⬛️⬛️ are more ⬛️⬛️⬛️ : they have a ⬛️⬛️⬛️ kind of ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ : or at least a ⬛️⬛️⬛️ board which makes them : pretty effective ⬛️⬛️⬛️ : though they can be ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ : with effort : the ⬛️ just run by rote : doing manual ⬛️⬛️⬛️ style tasks

our assumption : is that they’re both : part of an ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ : which is pretty alarming : given what a great job : they’re doing of ⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️⬛️ : our wonderful water dependent world : into a ⬛️⬛️⬛️ : how long before the : ⬛️⬛️⬛️ arrive : is up for debate : but we better hope it’s a while : so we can figure out : how to ⬛️⬛️⬛️ back : assuming there’s enough of us : left to ⬛️⬛️⬛️

I enjoyed this prompt (after initially disliking the thought of it). It was supposed to be about *yourself* but I ended up doing one for each of my 2 main characters. Very satisfying.

Ryan: an abridged Resume

the woman : who seems to lead the campers : asked me : to tell her : a bit about myself : wow : how would i even do that ?

former High School student : OMG so boring : let me start again

Many Name Bearer : Ring Diver : Cruiser of Lands : Star Partner : Sky Hunter : Brother Discoverer : Pod Rider : Doggo Adopter : Bad Man Outsmarter : Orange Hater (the colour not the citrus) : Propulsion Ponderer : Dam Buster : & of course : Earth’s Only Hope Against Evil Invading Army Of Desert Loving Crustacean Creature Things

But also : 

Dust Dreamer : Despairer of Doors : Cracker Jack Yakker : Asker of Big Questions, Receiver of Nil Answers : Tequila Squealer : Drum Banger & Rumpus Maker : Pseudo Father : Hope Doubter : Perpetual Worry Wort : one the precious few Just Damn Lucky-To-Be-Alives 

Stella’s CV

Big sister
Abandoned Daughter
Archivist / chronicler
Daydreamer
Rememberer
Survivor
Water baby 

Ryan’s just seen my list
Says I need to mix it up more
Have more fun
I told him that wasn’t my style
He replied that wasn’t wasn’t your style
But the world’s born anew now
So who knows … or something like that

Okay fine: I’ll begin there then.

Born again cave girl
Dweller in silent places
Reluctant Guerrilla Fighter in a war I doubt we can win
Grandparent Seeker
Admirer of Many Dawns

This is kinda fun , not that I’ll tell him that

Moon Dreamer, Galaxy Contemplator
Mother-Hater (later edit: Mother-Craver)
Star Admirer, Cold Tin Soup Hater
Ryan EyeRoller (haha this is fun)

Till a sudden sonic boom stops my fun
& I’m immediately drawn back into
the dystopian hellscape that is now

Just another day

a brother 

I can’t believe Ryan found him
& not me , not that it matters.

The fact he’s found is far more
Important than who found him.

But he’s thin so so thin. Muffled noise
Beneath my arms: Stell I can’t breathe.

Right , of course. I let him go
Even though I really don’t want to.

I could barely believe my eyes
Seeing him walking beside Rueben.

Clearly talking machine-gun fast as always
Explaining something about mandalas.

He’d watched monks on YouTube
Spend hours making beautiful patterns

Out of coloured sand , taking days
Before sweeping them all away.

Still stunned , I wasn’t keeping up.
What have mandalas & monks to do with us.

S’Where I got the idea of sweeping the sand
Behind me everywhere I went. Disguise.

I still didn’t follow. It didn’t matter.
Ryan smiled down at him. Rubbed his hair.

How to make him mine again. You hungry Rube.
Oh Stell. Like you wouldn’t believe.

& just like that — he was back

pillow talk

i don’t : want to sound : soft : believe me : i’m no soft : soft : soft : city boy : upper middle class git : everything comes so easy to me : unconscious of my own privilege : woke whinging softy : cos i’m not 

but : i tell you : right now : i’d go to great lengths : to secure : the deepest : softest : memory sensing : foam pillow : (bamboo preferably) : money can : beg : borrow : buy : steal : be gifted : just to rest : for one night : in luscious luxurious : lighter than air : angel’s wings : fairy floss : cotton cloud cliche : comfort

because : my swag : no matter how many socks : i insert : remains : harder than the rocks : it rests upon

what is love

is it : racing across : a rapidly desertifying : landscape that once was : home to your species : home to your nation : just home : which now : contains : little more than drifting ghosts : to rescue a boy : who probably : went dusto : 2 weeks ago

or is it something else : something more like : supreme stupidity : obnoxious naivety : old-fashioned lust : a statement of intent : to commit : suicide : writ large : across the sun baking sands

Butterfly curses

Can’t believe you deliberately chose beets

That jacket doesn’t suit you, denim never does

Why does my lip tremor when you speak

Eyes that suck me in like mangrove mud

Elbow made of electricity every time it brushes 

Smile like a lightbulb going off

Soft cinnamon scent always in your hair

Heart big as a front end loader bucket

Always angry as a wild cassowary

A carport I’d huddle beneath come summer storms

*given I am an Australian poet, I have changed 2 words which do not suit my poems being set in Oz. Cassowary for Elk & Mangrove for Bayou. Nonetheless the original words did their jobs by forcing me to think in images I wouldn’t have done without the prompts.

**In editing post marathon I will probably also jiggle the line order but I like giving myself little side tasks & for this prompt I always aim to use all 10 words in the order they appear, despite my dislike of CARPORT being the final word in the list hahahaha!!!

sparks

thank god : for friends who : sing at funerals : keep lighthouses : collect bees : float beneath ceilings : remain fresh : despite being behind the times : embody goosebumps : ache for books : live in sylvan worlds : flash time : stare skywards : sail boats to stars : love limitlessly : hypnotise laughter : huddle to fires : reveal in blue infinities : stick their arms out car windows : to let their hands : fly up with the force of the wind : like aeroplanes : as someone they love : drives them : endlessly home

flowers of the sun

don’t know when i realise
the fields of flowers beating
down your eyes this time
of year are no longer here

that wild violent yellow
racing off towards forever
might now be nothing more
than edge of childhood memory

edgelords

if i could : look over the edge : of everything : what would i see

the edge : of the horizon : more dust
the edge : of the earth : tree roots crumbling into air : ocean waterfalling into mizzle
the edge : of the galaxy : perhaps even : the red desert hole of a planet : these interstellar arseholes came from