The Poetry Marathon

The Blank Wall

 

With a blank wall

I have nothing to erase

No hurdles to jump over

No hoops to jump through.

Only possibilities.

So I stare and ponder.

Shadows play cat and mouse

On the blank wall in my mind.

Ladders go nowhere

And paths go in circles.

Words and phrases float like dust

Fragments of sentences are only words.

Seeds without packets long to be planted

But my mind is rocky soil.

I chase butterfly dreams with a fish net,

And they escape.

Then I see it—a word like a single step leads to another.

Before I can stop the flow,

My poem is complete.

Cindy Herndon

 

 

 

Ten Years Ago

 

Ten years ago I had no idea

What a broken ankle felt like

Or what limitations it would cause.

I took driving and walking for granted.

 

A decade ago neither of my children were married.

What gave me great joy was not a blip on a radar screen for them

 

Ten years ago I thought I would retire in just one year

But I am still teaching…and loving it.

 

I would not have conceived being in an art gallery

Or published

Or content to be at home creating.

 

Ten years ago I was in the same house

With the same husband

Doing so many of the same things

Thankful and content.

Cindy Herndon

 

The Visitors’ Office

A full moon hazed by mist

Illuminated the night.

Sentinel spruce and fir trees

Stood to attention along the winding road.

An information booth stood between two lanes—

More windows than bricks—

With its lights competing with the moon for brightness.

No one was present,

A blank page in a library of nature.

Cindy Herndon

 

The Garment of Yesterday

“after Diana Khoi Nguyen”

 

“The past draped around us like a cloak.”

Fabricated memories

Offered warmth and protection,

But it weighted us down

And kept us from flying toward tomorrow.

 

A butterfly does not carry its chrysalis

As it flits from flower to flower.

 

A frog does keep its tadpole tail

While it jumps among lily pads.

 

A chicken does not carry its shell

When it roost at night.

 

Perhaps we too should shed our past.

 

Cindy Herndon

 

Greeting, fellow poets!  This is my first year for the marathon, but I have been writing for a long, long time. I have taught American Literature in Maryland for the last 45 years. This will be my last year. I often imitate the authors in the course text book, using them as prompts for my own poetry.  I am ready for some new prompts! I’ve been married for 43 years and have 2 grown children–one is a poet, too!! When my mom died 5 years ago, I processed my grief by writing memoirs about what I had learned from her. I self-published it under the title Do Alligators Take Bath? Then I started doing the Poem-A-Day challenges. From those, I have created four chap books. When I am not writing or teaching, I am creating fiber art; most include innovative use of layered fabrics like silk, wool, cotton, and chenille with lots of thread painting. I often write poems to go with my visual art. I like the combination of sight and words. I look forward to sharing this adventure with the rest of you.

Thank you to those who are working to make this happen.