The Poetry Marathon

Hi Marathoners, =)

It’s getting closer to last call for submissions for this year’s anthology; and I have only just begun reviewing my poems (I try to get as much distance from my writing as possible prior to editing). I do have a few favourites from the marathon (it’s like picking favourite kids, I mean it’s possible, but I know we’re not supposed to do it). I would be gratefully appreciative of any feedback on these poems specifically as it would help me settle on my final two submission pieces if I knew there were any in particular that resonated with the marathon community.

Hour 3, Prompt 3 – The Bop – Black Lives Matter
Hour 6, Prompt 6 – Free Verse – My Ideal Day
Hour 8, Prompt 8 – Free Verse – By The Hands of Men
Hour 13, Prompt 13 – Villanelle – I Care
Hour 23, Prompt 23 – Sestina – Imaginary

***

I have also included links to the full collection of poems which I wrote during this year’s marathon. I have found this a helpful way of navigating my work while reviewing; if anyone had the time to comment on any of the other poems I have written this year then these are the direct links for these poems and I would be grateful for any and all comments.

Kind Regards,

DSC

***

Hour 1, Prompt 1 – Sonnet – H. Reese Scott

Sonnet – H. Reese Scott

Hour 2, Prompt 2 – Free Verse (Recipe Poem) – Recipe for Love

Free Verse (Recipe Poem) – Recipe for Love

Hour 3, Prompt 3 – The Bop – Black Lives Matter

The Bop – Black Lives Matter

Hour 4, Prompt 4 – Epistolary – The Beautiful Warrior

Epistolary – The Beautiful Warrior

Hour 5, Prompt 5 – Villanelle – Looking For Love

Villanelle – Looking For Love

Hour 6, Prompt 6 – Free Verse – My Ideal Day

Free Verse – My Ideal Day

Hour 7, Prompt 7 – Villanelle – Season of the Oft Depressed

Villanelle – Season of the Oft Depressed

Hour 8, Prompt 8 – Free Verse – By The Hands of Men

Free Verse – By The Hands of Men

Hour 9, Prompt 9 – Free Verse – Goldilocks

Free Verse – Goldilocks

Hour 10, Prompt 10 – Haiku – A Bird

Haiku – A Bird

Hour 11, Prompt 11 – Sonnet – Neverland

Sonnet – Neverland

Hour 12, Prompt 12 – Villanelle – Frankenstein

Villanelle – Frankenstein

Hour 13, Prompt 13 – Villanelle – I Care

Villanelle – I Care

Hour 14, Prompt 14 – Sonnet – Plants Care

Sonnet – Plants Care

Hour 15, Prompt 15 – Villanelle – First Flight

Villanelle – First Flight

Hour 16, Prompt 16 – Free Verse – A Word I Will Not Say

Free Verse – A Word I Will Not Say

Hour 17, Prompt 17 – Diamante – Current/Outdated

Diamante – Current/Outdated

Hour 18, Prompt 18 – Free Verse – Holiday At Home

Free Verse – Holiday At Home

Hour 19, Prompt 19 – Sonnet – Bigger

Sonnet – Bigger

Hour 20, Prompt 20 – Cinquain – Helios

Cinquain – Helios

Hour 21, Prompt 21 – Villanelle – Sleep

Villanelle – Sleep

Hour 22, Prompt 22 – Haiku – Feather

Haiku – Feather

Hour 23, Prompt 23 – Sestina – Imaginary

Sestina – Imaginary

Hour 24, Prompt 24 – Sonnet – A Gift

Sonnet – A Gift

Prompt 24, Hour 24

Write a poem about a gift, real or imagined, fantastical or boring.

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Sonnet – A Gift

2020©DSCoremans

My most expensive item of foot wear
Happens to be a pair of leather shoes
Not black, or brown; but reds, and greens, and blues
A taste for these shoes is considered rare

And when I wear them I have to take care
Many have seen them and tried to abuse
I usually wear them with tartan trews
It’s no wonder that people stop to stare

But regardless as to what people think
I prefer to look the way that I do
Some have accused me of having a drink
But this is the life I live; which I choose

The way I choose to live is not a dare
I am where I am; and I am happy there.

2020©DSCoremans
Poem 24 of 24, written for the 24hr Poetry Marathon 2020 by DS Coremans

www.dscoremans.com – Forever Distracted by Life
#FoDiByLi

Prompt 23, Hour 23

Home stretch now!

Write a poem about an imaginary pet or person. The poem can be from your perspective, the perspective of a neutral third party, or from the perspective of the imaginary pet or person themselves.

***

Sestina – Imaginary

2020©DSCoremans

1 I have often felt I am imaginary,
That I am not a real person.
I am little more than someone’s pet;
but perhaps this is a flawed perspective.
Can a person change, how they see themselves
or within their own life do they stay neutral?

2 It doesn’t seem possible to stay neutral;
My feelings are not imaginary,
they are personal only to one person
but are easily dismissed, like a pet
making me lose my perspective
when people say words to hurt themselves.

3 But rarely will one hurt themselves
choosing instead, to find themselves neutral.
This strange belief is imaginary
like a fallacy dressed as a person.
I have no love for a gifted pet
lost; by any other perspective.

4 I climb higher, seeking a new perspective;
Most will never do this for themselves.
Choosing ignorance, in belief it is neutral;
but inaction is intrinsically imaginary.
An unengaged, unpredictable person
who seeks not a partner but a pet.

5 A companion; not an equal, but a pet
is a prisoner by another perspective.
The kept one may not see it themselves;
believing themselves to be neutral.
Any problems they see are imaginary
if they happen to another person.

6 Who does that make you; what type of person?
Are you a wild lion; or a house cat pet?
Perhaps if you pursue a new perspective
then the masses can answer for themselves.
When I have tried and failed to stay neutral;
My own ignorance becomes imaginary.

7 I no longer want to be an imaginary person;
Nor a kept pet with no outside perspective.
Defy those who defy themselves to stay neutral.

2020©DSCoremans
Poem 23 of 24, written for the 24hr Poetry Marathon 2020 by DS Coremans

www.dscoremans.com – Forever Distracted by Life
#FoDiByLi

Prompt 22, Hour 22

You are almost there. I’m sorry, this is the hardest part, but I think it’s time for another image prompt. Please choose one of the following images and write a poem inspired by it. All but the second image are from Unsplash (the second one I took), all are free to use however you wish. 

***

Haiku – Feather

2020©DSCoremans

Does a bird in flight
notice when a feather falls,
to rest upon moss.

2020©DSCoremans
Poem 22 of 24, written for the 24hr Poetry Marathon 2020 by DS Coremans

Credit for the image of the feather on moss goes to Caitlin Jans.

www.dscoremans.com – Forever Distracted by Life
#FoDiByLi

Prompt 21, Hour 21

Write a poem about what you are longing for most right now.

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Villanelle – Sleep

2020©DSCoremans

I don’t know how I am still awake;
long ago did I desire sweet sleep.
The fog from my brain I’m trying to shake;

This is a record I don’t want to break
but at this point I’m in too deep.
I don’t know how I am still awake?

My closing victory is still at stake
but with effort I will try to keep
the fog from my brain, I’m trying to shake

The last hints of night which I try to wake
slumber on; they don’t make a peep.
I don’t know how I am still awake,

However I feel this is not a mistake!
And in just three more hours, I can fall in a heap.
I don’t know how I am still awake;
The fog from my brain I’m trying to shake.

2020©DSCoremans
Poem 21 of 24, written for the 24hr Poetry Marathon 2020 by DS Coremans

www.dscoremans.com – Forever Distracted by Life
#FoDiByLi

Prompt 20, Hour 20

Because it’s probably very dark out right now for most of the participants, the prompt for this hour is to write a poem involving light of any kind, from the sun, to a lamp to a candle.

***

Cinquain – Helios
2020©DSCoremans

Burning,
bright and brilliant
rising over the world
Helios; the bringer of dawn
and light.

2020©DSCoremans
Poem 20 of 24, written for the 24hr Poetry Marathon 2020 by DS Coremans

www.dscoremans.com – Forever Distracted by Life
#FoDiByLi

Prompt 19, Hour 19

This prompt is based on an idea from Danielle Wong.

Below are two images of a Siphonophore Apolemia. It is an animal that actually is made up of hundreds of animals that clone themselves; the scientists had thought that together they float around and wait to catch food, but they now know they are capable of hunting.

There’s an article about them if you want to learn more:https://globalnews.ca/news/6799525/jellyfish-string-creature/?utm_medium=Facebook&utm_source=GlobalNews&fbclid=IwAR2bdLbQz0STcPCUfW_ZGrpaWwn-Mj8mXtDUVlXkMHTTz4jeEAzRGz57ORw 

You can use this either as an image prompt, jumping off the image below to write a poem, or you can write about what it’s like to be one small part of something bigger.

***

Sonnet – Bigger

2020©DSCoremans

In becoming part of something bigger
I am greater than I could be as one
and while my journey may not have begun
with support I can finally trigger

a path towards my eternal vigour
carried farther than I could ever run.
This way all that we have to do is done
as a unit, a monotonous figure

a whole represented by each small part.
Recognition given to every gear
and the way we work is a work of art
as each individual disappears.

I am the day which is warmed by the sun
there is nothing I cannot overcome.

2020©DSCoremans
Poem 19 of 24, written for the 24hr Poetry Marathon 2020 by DS Coremans

www.dscoremans.com – Forever Distracted by Life
#FoDiByLi

Prompt 18, Hour 18

Write a narrative poem set during a holiday. It could be a poem based on your own lived experience or it could be an imagined event. A narrative poem is a poem that tells a story, but the story does not have to be compete, nor does it have to be told in a linear way.

***

Free Verse – Holiday At Home

2020©DSCoremans

The holiday at home
started in March
of the year that lasted
forever.

The holiday at home
has been for our own safety;
keeping at a distance
all of those
we love.

The holiday at home
is one long day and night
on an endless loop
Is it March, April;
What may come
when June ends?

The holiday at home
has gone on too long
and yet not long enough.

For here we stay
until we can
end our holiday
at home.

2020©DSCoremans
Poem 18 of 24, written for the 24hr Poetry Marathon 2020 by DS Coremans

www.dscoremans.com – Forever Distracted by Life
#FoDiByLi

Prompt 17, Hour 17

Write a poem about a form of technology that is obsolete or is headed that way. The technology could just be referred to in passing, like a telephone booth, or it could be a CD that is the focal point of the poem. The degree of focus on the obsolete technology is up to you.

***

Diamante – Current/Outdated
2020©DSCoremans

Current
Shiny & Short-lived
Evolving, learning, consuming
You must have. Have if you must
Enduring, degrading, breaking
Obsolete & Undesired
Outdated

2020©DSCoremans
Poem 17 of 24, written for the 24hr Poetry Marathon 2020 by DS Coremans

www.dscoremans.com – Forever Distracted by Life
#FoDiByLi

Prompt 16, Hour 16

Write a poem about love, without ever using the word love in it.

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Free Verse – A Word I Will Not Say

2020©DSCoremans

I said it;
long before him.
An accident,
words I did not mean
to say.

Just three little words;
one word too many,
too easy to hear
but not acknowledge.

Long after
we were through,
I still recall
the words
you could not say
to me.

***

I said it,
at first quietly
then loud enough
for you to hear.

To my surprise
you said the words
without hesitation,
like an echo
with no substance.

You said the words
often enough for me
to believe them
at first.

After a while
the repetition
became monotonous
like our time together.

***

You said the words
after merely hours
together; in my company
you used those words
to woo me.

But now
when I hear them
I am cold;
for those words
sound empty.

Four letters
too many,
to say
to anyone else.

2020©DSCoremans
Poem 16 of 24, written for the 24hr Poetry Marathon 2020 by DS Coremans

www.dscoremans.com – Forever Distracted by Life
#FoDiByLi