The Poetry Marathon

This year is extra special for me and I m thrilled to be writing with everyone!!

Extra special because I m finally content following covid. My environment is beautiful and affordable.

Thrilled to be writing with the full and half Marathoners as I ve had fewer articles published since covid began and I need the push!! Challenges are good for the soul!!

May everyone put their pen to paper and enjoy each prompt and each hour!!

Welcome to fall poetry folks!! Have fun!!

Rocks*Magnets*Sunflowers                                             Hour Five    10 word list prompt

He came home for the funeral; things looked much as when he had been there at Christmas.

Working overseas for a homeland security company had kept him away a lot after 911.

Hymns, sandwiches, hugs, and tears had made the church service seem surreal.

Family, friends and friends like family gathered and rallied. She was well loved by all.

They talked every Sunday; facetiming hadn’t appealed to her although they had tried it once or twice.

He couldn’t believe his dear grandmother had passed away so suddenly.

He sat down and thought about growing up in this house; her love and care surrounded him.

Looking for keepsakes wasn’t why he came; he had simply come to say goodbye. And thank you.

A ten year-old best seller, a large print hardback, lie open on the threadbare lounger.

The knitting basket had tipped over and colorful balls of yarn had spilled out onto the floor.

Just out the kitchen window a garden bed of sunflowers bobbed, twisted and strained following the sun.

The grand old oak stood as still as a sentry at the corner of the yard nestled by crumbling pavement.

The nail holding down a corner of the carpet was rough and bent; collecting extra dirt in the space.

An empty wineglass sat unattended on the back patio table; a cloth napkin had blown under the chair.

A recipe for Gma’s famous au gratin potatoes hung front and center on the frig; held snug by a huge “Got Beef?” magnet.

She had made that casserole for every church potluck; Tillamook cheddar cheese was her secret ingredient.

A stack of all the postcards and letters he had written her were buried in the bottom on her worn leather satchel.

He knew he’d find them there; along with a few smooth rocks from the Oregon coast and a tiny stuffed owl.

He walked around one more time; he bent down to grab her “helpers” and sat them next to the book.

There was no need to clean up or pick up. Memories cannot be boxed up.

Dear Fellow Marathoners,

This is Cindy Whitaker from Durango, Colorado USA. Just 35 miles from my cabin lies a working cattle ranch dating back to the late 1880s. Those are my roots. Delving into DNA has only opened my eyes to what tenacity and perseverance really looks like!!  I come from stock, the tried and true tough stock, only few recognize. My great aunt and uncle, each in their 90s, still work the ranch! They are everyday heroes in my book!!

This will be my third year as a full marathon participant. I spend approximately 10 days collecting new materials to go with my tools of the trade pwriting box. My box has some very old dictionaries and poetry collections ( classics and peer/modern writers ) and the essentials. I use bold pens, special scrap paper I collect all year for drafts &/or meters. During the year, I add random words, images or short articles for encouragement as much as actual inspiration! For 24 hours I am a skilled and talented writer. I don’t have to travel far. I am instantly transported into a precious writer’s nook with solitude and quiet.

I want to add that I have had my poems included in the anthologies and those collections are so very cool!! I gave away many copies, specifically for feedback!! Feedback was always raw and exhilarating! I ve also had other, non marathon pieces, published in a local community magazine. That feedback was also life changing! Folks had known me for 30 years in that small town, but once I wrote and published several poems, relationships shifted. Yes, it felt like a grand sense of accomplishment in one way, and then suddenly those folks began to actually see me. I began to write and create and share more…fear no longer held me back!

Lastly, the community of writers right here in the marathon are supportive and real! You are truly welcomed in!! Expect to be pushed and challenged! Expect to be vulnerable! Expect to be humbled! Most of all give yourself whatever time you can to decompress * I find that helps with intention in reading and commenting on my peers’ work following the marathon.

As the 2022 Poetry Marathon Rolls In, like a rip-roaring tidal wave, I send out best wishes and happy trails to every participant! Let’s do this!!

Living in rugged rural Nevada proves to be a most perfect setting for the creative process in this my fourth year of retirement. I spend my time volunteering, writing, taking photographs, and creating pieces of art. My written work and photographs have been published locally Community Living Magazine on the Nevada Magazine and on the state level. I participated in Reno is Artown last year and have been invited again this summer to sell my chiffon art scarves. It’s a prestigious and game changer opportunity! !  I am also participating in the 2019-2020 Nevada Arts Council’s new Basin to Range Exchange Project. It is an intentional urban meet rural collaboration. For volunteering my favorite role is sitting with my 93 year old neighbor for respite care.