The Poetry Marathon

When I was young,
I thought too much
I only ever wanted
To be a grown up

I’m older and I remember
When I was young
Good and bad
were always around

I know now that they were all lessons
But i wish I had known that
When I was young
Because time I used like paper

Now when I write
I take my time
And I think back only sometimes to
When I was young

My knees tremble
My toes curl around the jagged rock
We are at the end of the world

Looking over the edge makes my chest tight
Utter darkness looks back at me
But then –
The sun appears
It starts at the bottom – a speck

As time goes by it rises
Illuminating what is beneath me
Birds fly
amongst atmospheric dust

Trees reach low – they grow upside down
Gravity does not rule here
A dog floats upwards and barks at me
He’s my neighbours’
We’d been searching for him

It seems at the end of the world
Lives a different time
The far future
It’s exciting
But I step back wary
Even a bright future has a little bit of shadow

A whole entire life fits into a box
The house is empty now
And I await the future

A future of deep regrets
But not by me
A future of relearning a man
The way he walks, and talks
His idiosyncrasies

I have always loved the man
But the real struggle is to admit it
To admit I have missed him
Longed to be with him again

I don’t know who my father is anymore
But now that my past is packed into boxes
I suppose my only purpose and my only home
Is him

It always seems to be the ruin of people
When it ends
One seems to find another
To spend the days with

When I was younger, I was told a lie
That coming together was necessary to survive
And although I know it is not always true
I still believe that lie today

Perhaps in a few I will walk down that path
My father accompanying me
And if not
Well, regardless I will be happy
Happy with what I have got

The child was as small as a teacup
Thats what her mother had said,
And she knew it

The drone hovered above her
Ever watching
And she could feel it

Motionless, determined
The child remained seated while the crowd approached
And she could see them

Vicious, menacing, out for blood
Their clothes all tattered, their faces covered in mud
And she could smell it

She knew the Ivory Man had sent his goons
She knew she couldn’t outrun them too
She could almost hear him

The Ivory Man watched through the drone
As the crowd slowly approached
The excitement in his chest grew
Victory – he could almost taste it

The child was there and then she was not
She was clever, he knew
After all, so was her mother
And so was he

She lay there, in the dark
Moaning
The language she speaks I do not know

She locks eyes with me
I look away
I try to keep to myself

I’m not sure how I fell asleep
The annoying woman had kept me awake
But she doesn’t make a noise now

The gifts my family bought me
Have been stolen
I’m upset, my day has been ruined

The woman has visitors now
Great
There will be more noise now

I expect laughter and talking over each other
But the silence is broken by howling
And crying

I had wanted to greet her this morning
I had wanted to be nicer, to be better

The sun has set
And so work begins…

In the middle of nowhere
I spend my time
I greet strangers like friends
I know a few passers-by

Apart from greetings,
I am mostly alone
I eat my lunch in silence
As the night goes on

As four o’clock approaches,
I get ready to go
My shift will be taken over
And I will be on my way home

However, on this night, nobody comes
And I’m stuck alone
I put down my bag,
I pick up the phone

The only thing I hear
Is a high-pitched dialtone
And my sudden shallow breath
As I realise I’m not alone

I am not a fighter
But I shall stand my ground
For if I am to go,
Of myself, I hope to be proud.

Last year was my first attempt at the poetry marathon, and I was able to complete it! I had so much fun. This year I hope to reignite my creativity. Let’s do this 🙂

Keep the fire burning,
As the cold winds blow.
Shoulder the blades,
That tear at your dreams.
Hope is yours to keep.

In the winter of 1849
– or so we think –
the wooden bones of The Terror
were finally broken.

Encroaching ice claimed
this stubborn blight
on a wild frozen sea
without remorse.

Those still seeking its shelter
were doomed to walk
stark glacial landscapes
ravenous and afraid.

What we have left of them
are rusted rifles, stone cairns
and bones gnawed
in desperation.