The Poetry Marathon

Standing outside
     The wind blows my hair
     The wind blows the grass
     The wind blows the trees
          A strong display of its strength.
I close my eyes
     The scent of lilacs
     The scent of dog
     The scents mingle
          An interesting array of fragrance.
Walking slowly
     I hear birds chirp
     I hear rustling wind
     I hear my breath
          A whispering cacophony of sound.
Standing still
     I feel the cloudy peace
     I feel the cool, damp air
     I feel my spirits lift
          An awakening of my mind.

A butterfly alighting on a bright yellow flower
Can bring on a chorus of gleeful shouts
A swirl of wind among the whispering trees
             There is magic in the air.
A cloud in the shape of a galloping horse
An intake of breath that whistles as it is let out
A firefly dancing at the edge of the dark woods
            There is magic everywhere.
The sunshine glinting off the surface of the lake
Can elicit a whirlwind of blissful sighs
Twinkling stars in the night sky shine
            There is magic if you dare.
The flickering of firelight, dancing shadows
Smiles of relaxation and warmth all around
The happiness shining from a child’s bright eyes
            The magic that we share.

I am here to watch you struggle with typical things
Like walking, like playing, like talking
I am one that will observe you every day
With a loving stare, never mocking.
I am one of many who will guide you
As you go through your daily way
A friend, an aide, a supporter I am
We’ll climb the mountain together today.
While you battle it out with your body
I am here to help you with your mind
While your thoughts and words are in chaos
I am to help you with words you must find.
You are strong, you are awesome, you rock
To help you see that, you know that I am
Your biggest fan, your place to land
I am the one who will say “You can!”

My name is Deanna and I live near Calgary, Alberta in Canada. I spent most of my life in southern Alabama in the US, but moved here almost 4 years ago. At the last Poetry Marathon I was in school, working on a diploma in Disability Studies. A year ago I graduated! It was quite the accomplishment seeing that I finished my last class on my 48th birthday. I am now working at a preschool/kindergarten for children with special needs as a child development aide. I love what I do and I am so incredibly happy to be doing it. Not many people get the chance to re-invent themselves at my age!

I am married and I have two grown sons, a daughter in law, two granddaughters, two granddogs, a grandcat, and a grandhamster named Chatter. Not to mention I have my own dog and two cats who live with me. My husband and my pup will be there to help me get through the 24 hours of the marathon. They were both a very big help the last time.

I am truly looking forward to challenging myself once more and happy that I know more of what to expect. I cannot wait to connect with everyone else who is doing this and it is going to be an amazing and exhausting amount of fun!

Deanna

I look out my window and what do I see?
I see my neighborhood slowly waking up.
There is dew or frost on the cars and lights coming on
Someone is walking his pup.
The sun is slowly lighting up the world
In colours so bright and clear
It is coming through the blinds, messing with my eyes
Good morning it says with glorious cheer.

Many miles separate me
From my family, they’re my pride.
A country border, many states I’d have to cross
To be by their side.
My two sons make me laugh
As we stumble through the days
My daughter in law makes me smile
As we talk in the sun’s rays.
My two granddaughters are so loved
By their Nana, that is me.
My parents, my aunt and cousins
Complete my family.
In our hearts we are together
The miles they melt away
When I go to see them
They wish that I could stay.

Why will she not look at me?
With her auburn hair and hidden eyes.
She’s just standing there, by the table
Her hand resting on its edge.
Her golden straps sit smartly
Against her fair fair skin.
Her sleek black dress fits her form
She looks corseted in.
Holding her dress in one pale hand
She insists on looking aside.
Why will she not look at me?
Does she have something to hide?

I went fishing with my best friend
Down upon the lake.
We had rods and reels in hand
And a pail of fresh oatcake.
We tossed our lines into the depths
Certain we would find
That old granddaddy catfish
That we always seemed to leave behind.
We tossed and reeled repeatedly
Until finally something bit!
I started reeling up the line
A hollering, “Dang it’s big!”
I reeled and reeled and braced myself
And finally reeled it in.
I didn’t have granddaddy catfish
But it had to be his kin.
We tossed our lines in once again
Hoping we’d have some luck
The rod bowed down and touched the ground
It felt like it got stuck.
That fish it looked like granddaddy
We braced ourselves to get him in
Just as we got him to the shore
The line broke, we watched him swim.
Dejected and defeated, we stumbled on back home
We had to tell our parents
What we almost brought them home.
We told them about granddaddy
He was 10 feet long at least!
He had the longest whiskers
He would have made a feast!
We related to them our story
Of how he got away
I don’t think our family believes us
Even until this day.

I saw a fly go buzzing by
It landed on a plaque.
I could not understand the fly
Why he kept coming back.
I looked a little closer
The plaque was covered in braille
Maybe the fly, using his many eyes
Wanted to read a silent tale.
He walked around the plaque some more
He reverberated all a twitter
The fly flew off and I laughed
He had grown a little bigger.

I fly through the heavens
Make a pit stop in the Milky Way
And have a picnic.
I munch on crunchy star bites
And then take a drink of clear sunlight.
I launch myself on a moonbeam and hover around
The moon and wave to the man who resides there
I scoop up some cheese from a crater
To nibble along the way
Skim on over to slide along
The rings of Saturn.
I sit on one of the circular rings
Rest my feet on an asteroid.
I contemplate the earth I left behind
I smile, as I rocket away.