The Poetry Marathon

Tiger Ghost

Tiger! I shout! Tiger! I shout!

Like a fire in the sky.

Amid the trees and starshine

I see you go slinking by.

I ask the ghosts of my ancestors

If they could see a tiger in the land

I clap in surprise

Go back and forth with my eyes

With graceful symmetry I stand.

Season of the Pandemic

We wash our hands and alcohol up

Never leave our house without backup

We walk our dogs, masks on our face

Look suspiciously at the whole human race.

No more travel, we work from home

No longer are we allowed to roam.

A grocery store, up and down the aisles

Follow the arrows, if you don’t no one smiles.

Six feet apart or two metres, you choose.

There is very few freedoms left for us to lose.

Hold your chin up, let a big breath out

The season of the pandemic will make you shout!

Slowly I wake up and stretch

The sun streams in the room

I get out of bed and my

Day begins to bloom

I shuffle into the kitchen for

That cup of humanity

As I wait for it to brew

I inhale the scent of strong coffee.

I shower and get dressed

And make my way outside

With my spouse holding my hand

We wander far and wide.

We talk about our lifelong dreams

Our goals and then we smile

We stop for lunch and continue on

To speak our thoughts with each passing mile.

As the day turns into evening

We make our way to the mountainside

We watch as the brilliant sun sets

We welcome the cool breeze with a sigh.

We smile and take each others hand

And make our way back home.

We settle in for the night time

In our own thoughts we zone.

I change into my sleeping clothes

So comfy, soft and sleek.

I climb back into the cozy bed

Close my eyes, hand resting on my cheek.

While walking in the woods one day,

I came upon a tree.

It reached up high, majestic

Its grandeur called to me.

I took my time exploring

Its ancient roughened bark

And when I came to the other side

I spied a time-worn mark.

A heart was carved into the wood

Sap covered, its age was evident.

In my mind I saw the story

Of a love given sentiment.

I imagined two young lovers,

On a casual stroll one day

They came upon this same tree

And stopped along the way.

In a romantic rush of ardour

The two hearts were drawn as one

After they had left their mark

They resumed their walk beneath the sun.

Dear Granmom,

You had seven children, my mom was the last

And many foster children came through.

You were of hardy German stock, the clans rock

Without you, what would they do?

When I was born we lived with you

My mother and my own little self

You gave me love and soft cuddles

Never putting that love on a shelf.

When I was three, we moved from thee

Way down south in Alabama

My mother, father, sister and I

Had to leave behind my much loved gramma.

The years they passed and the time finally came

On the day that I turned seven.

We had to lay you to rest, broken hearted,

You gained your wings and went to Heaven.

Time has flown and I never forgot

How you visited me after you were gone.

Moving the Bible you gave me,

In which you signed to “My little one.”

Love,

Your granddaughter

Rude People (A Bop)

There are people in this world that I don’t understand,

They are rude and uncouth, it has gotten out of hand.

They are louts and they’re bores, just not very pleasant

I run into them often, they always seem present.

I beg the good Lord, to give me the patience to see

The good in these people who are so insulting to me.

What has happened to make you so rude?

An example of these rude people, just so you know

Is, for instance, getting in your way, wherever you go.

Those people who think they should be head of the line

Even if others have been there waiting, they will start to whine.

The people who feel entitled, just cause their born

Better than those who worked hard, worn down, torn.

The whiners, complainers, grumpy troublemakers,

The grumblers, the moaners, growling bellyachers.

What has happened to make you so rude?.

The one thing I can do, the best thing that I know

Is to shower these unhappy people with kindness, to show

Another way, an example, that they can choose to act

Show them you can make a point, while using some tact.

I’ll try to remember, even though it can get hard to do

That some people fight battles and don’t know what to do.

What has happened to make you so rude?

Recipe for Working with Kiddos with Special Needs

1. Sense of humour
2. Flexibility
3. Kindness
4. Firmness
5. A dash of sarcasm

In working with kiddos with special needs, you need a big, heaping pile of humour. Let the humour set for a bit, or you will be in for an emotional boomer. A scoop of flexibility is vital, to keep your stress in check. To be rigid and unbendable, will just give you a pain in the neck. Add kindness to the whole mixture, a spoonful of firmness will keep you on track. Mix in a dash of sarcasm, and a successful recipe you will get back.

Every day you find a new struggle,

A mountain to climb, a journey to start

You look at your child with determination

Find the strength to go on in your heart.

You battle your fears and frustrations,

Wondering how you got here.

With a wondrous birth, full of joy and mirth

The distant light now threatening to disappear.

Look…you have made it this far in your journey

Your child has their own glowing light

In the day you can find all your blessings

Even if tears you shed in the night.

Take each day as it comes at you

Keep on going, even with qualms.

You are doing the best you could possibly do

In this life of a special needs mom.

Hello! My name is Deanna. I am previously from South Alabama, but I have lived near Calgary, Alberta Canada for almost 5 years now. I have two grown children, two granddaughters, a dog, and two cats. I work at a preschool/kindergarten for children with special needs. Today (Friday) was actually our last day of school. It was very bittersweet since we were not able to be with the kiddos in person and have spent the last few months only in contact with them by Zoom.

This will be my 3rd Marathon! I am SO excited about it and have been preparing for it ever since I found out the date. I look forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones. I have my fruit tray, trail mix, summer sausage, cheese, and various snacky candies ready for in the morning! Oh, and also my coffee.

I hope everyone is able to get some rest because we will certainly need it! We got this!

You told me that you loved me
     but you lied
You told me you’d never leave me
     But you lied
You said that we had time enough
To do what we wanted to do
I fell in love, believed you
     But you lied.
Why did you waste my time?
Why did you waste my love?
Why did you make me waste away in grief?
Why did you make me love you
Knowing you couldn’t love me?
Even though you said you loved me
     But you lied.