The Poetry Marathon

I heard it-

that sound,

it had been around

all my life

but now it was louder.

A flat solid thump

thu-mp, thum-p.

The horizon was changing,

the mountain range

was gone.

I gathered up my guts

I knew this was going to suck

but I had to know.

Someone wish me luck.

I walked the miles it took

and reached the edge that overlooked

nothing.

The sound was louder,

the thumping like the beat of my heart.

I sat down, then got to my knees.

I crawled back to the edge.

I had to see.

Flat.

They were hammering the earth

flat

just to prove a point.

Well, we’ll see about that.

And I jumped to my feet

and over the edge.

No one is changing my center of gravity.

To put it together

it has to come apart.

Material laid out, right sides together,

pattern pieces cut perfectly.

Pins poke holes and

pieces fit onto the material,

strategically

saving as much material as possible

for the next craft.

Cut, cut.

Unpin and pin.

Sew on the wrong side

Turn inside outside.

How this resembles life.

We come apart.

Our insides are out and

our outsides are in.

Things poke holes in our plans

and we rearrange the layout of our lives.

We strategically save as much of ourselves

for whatever will happen next.

The cutting

the pinning

and unpinning

seem wrong

but when we are finally right-side out

We are like a tapestry.

A Masterpiece.

We breathe in

We breathe out

Lift our arms

But don’t twirl about.

Arms out

Nod our heads

Shouldn’t kids do this

Instead?

We lift our knees

We put them down

Slowly, slowly twist and turn

But we never feel the burn.

Nice and easy

That’s the plan

Then we stop

And breathe again.

Whistle while you work.

But I can’t whistle.

My tongue won’t bend

my lips won’t purse.

Melodies, bird-like trills,

like summer showers,

never

flow.

My jaw is tight,

my tongue is curled,

and my lips exhausted.

I am done

and you, my son,

just keep on whistling

and laughing at me.

I made a tiny fairy garden

beneath a willow tree.

Baubles, beads and tiny bells

graced its fronds of green.

I tied a button to a string

and it became a fairy swing.

Little flowers small and sweet,

their fragrance filled the air

I set in tiny potting pots

and placed them everywhere.

And then I waited

for evening’s light,

hoping for the sight

of fairies swinging

through the night.

The babies are crawling three by three oh my oh my

the babies are crawling three by three oh my oh my

the babies are crawling three by three

crawling and crying over my knee

and I am crying too

what can

I do?

Will I just post under Posts? … adding to what was posted last year? sometimes I wish my rememberer worked better!

Hi! I’m Aleta. This will be my second poetry marathon. I made it through the whole thing last year. I admit that some of the poems came fairly easily and some I searched for words and ideas to even think about! I like poems for kids and haiku, and just making stuff up. Hope everyone really likes this adventure!

Clearly thoughts can come and go

some sometimes stop and stay a while

but others do not make me smile

they make me mad

they just took off

they’re being bad

when I need them

then they’re gone

and the ones that stay

I don’t need that long

clearly thoughts can come and go

I just want to show

who’s boss

and … and …

never mind.

People say: I love you

I like you

I need you

this shows they love you

God says: I love you

I created you

because I wanted you.

this is love too.

powerful thoughts

to hold in your heart

you are loved

in so many ways.