The Poetry Marathon

Write a poem about someone or something you miss. The fact that you miss this person or thing can be mentioned in the poem or it can be left out.

Grandmother

By Patricia Harris

The stories you told

Grew imagination.

Love came

Unconditionally.

My mind focuses on the

Moments spent

Learning to read

Learning more about

Life’s stories.

In the night,

I wonder if all my stories

Will come together

To be your pride

In what you left behind.

Write a poem that contains a great deal of exaggeration. Everything else is up to you!!!

By Patricia Harris

Sleep,

Such a random loss,

Staring out of dry eyes

Who have been open for days too long.

Sleep,

Required for the brain

To function,

While I am struggling

Merely to be able

To remember my own name.

For the prompt this hour I want you to write a nature poem with a twist. I want you to write a poem about nature interacting with man made things. It could be about watching a beautiful eagle while standing in a strip mall parking lot, it could be about planting trees in a small city park, it could be about anything as long as it involves both the natural world and the un-natural one.

By Patricia Harris

Twenty roses  twined

Through the garden gate,

Shading the toolshed elegantly.

Flowers riotously growing

Uncontrolled,

Even the lawn

Needs mowed.

Nature’s miracle is best

When it is overgrown.

Write a poem set in space. The details are entirely up to you!

By Patricia Harris

Stars spred

In comet trails

Black holes sweeping

The milky way

Pulling out the

Extra stuff thrown loose

From random

Star stuff

Write a poem to go with one of the following five titles:

At the Circus

Table for Two

Cloud Mountain

Evening Fog

Tea

Table for two

By Patricia Harris

Cozy,  intimate,

A space for just you and I.

Allowing us to forget,

That the world surrounds.

Holding us to the rules

Of society around

The table for two

Where we stand.

Each year I write one prompt devoted to a cliché topic, previously these prompts have been focused on love, death, and angst.

This year the challenge is to write a poem about loss that is not cliché.

Respect

By Patricia Harris

Alone,  I trusted,

Unconditional acceptance

Of the idea that we were

Always meant for

Eternity…

Betrayal of my trust,

Pretending that it was right

That you are true

Before I knew that you

Were a figment

Of the imagination,

Through and through.

Write a persona poem from the perspective of a well known fictional character. You can choose any fictional character but here are a few names to get you thinking in the right direction: Dracula, King Arthur, Red Riding Hood, Katniss Everdeen, etc. . .

The Shoe Lady

By Patricia Harris

How many children

Can you fit in a shoe?

Currently mine holds

Twenty and two.

My pantry is bare,

No food any where.

No space for clothing

Just kids playing

Everywhere.

some kind of ancient myth. The myth can be from any cultural background or origin, but I am not interested in modern myths. The older the better.

The poem can go into the details of the myth and be a retelling of sorts, or it can just borrow a mythic element and place it the modern world. The details are entirely up to you.

Banished

By Patricia Harris

Forgotten Beauty

Warrior strong,

Because of parentage

Not allowed to belong.

Half in darkness

Death at her side,

Half in light,

Not allowed to have pride.

Forced into exile to hide.

Royal twice,

Strong and  quasi sane,

Watch the dead

Her occupation became.

As her own kin

Could not stand

Her to be a warrior

In any more than name.

Write a poem that contains at least five of the following ten words. Feel free to include all ten if you wish.

Frogs

Evening

Tomatoes

Jars

Raincoat

Steam

Peculating

Children

Elbow

Mystery

Summer Fields

By Patricia Harris

The mystery of summer,

The joys that are contained.

A time for catching frogs during the day,

And lighting bugs in the evening late.

For children and fireworks,

Gardens and jars,

Fresh veggies,

And fried green tomatoes.

Raincoats and puddles,

Songs and dancing,

Wedding parties and fun

On beaches under the summer sun.

In the winds and rain

We walked,

Joined at the elbows

Enjoying the each other

In the summer breeze.

Write a poem that contains no more than 100 words and no less than 90 words. If you repeatedly use the same word it only counts once. For example if the word umbrella was used 10 times in your poem you would only count it once.

The word count feature (bottom left of this text box) is your friend!

Books

By Patricia Harris

Musty old tomes

In plies overgrown

Falling from every corner

Of my home.

Reading each with reference,

Feeling though each is a member

Of my own beloved family.

Words written down,

Read quite often in the passing time.

Well worn spines

On covers handled too many times,

Pages smeared with fingerprints

Still read just fine.

Beloved stories

Standing the test of time,

Reminding me of less complicated

Periods in my mind.

Dreams dripping ink,

In ancient yellowed pages.

Telling childhoods oldest thoughts

For the world to see

The love that remains.