Edward – The Poetry Marathon

Dystopian Haikus

Imagine a world
Where no one had any pain.
What would that be like?

Would we all be numb?
Would we not feel anything?
Would it be worth it?

Who would give up joy?
Imagine no one could laugh.
Trading pain for none.

It doesn’t sound good.
I’d rather have joy and pain.
Than to feel nothing.

She is Southern, in the style of Gone With The Wind.
But she is not not Scarlett, whose charm is greater than her beauty.
She is Melanie, concerned and sweet,
With all the graces and genuine beauty that Scarlett only pretends to have.

Two

She plays concert piano by ear
And drives an MG.
She is hopelessly in love,
With a young man whom even his friends
Call a stodgy old man.

They are both 18.
And then they are 20.

Three

An expected marriage
Two families join
And within four years
There are three more.

Four

The heartbreak
Takes her and her three
To a land far away
From the life they had known.

Five

The MG and the piano
Have been replaced by a sedan and typewriter
Her happiness has become
The happiness of her children

Six

A sailor a pirate
Takes them on an adventure
To a magical land of mountians and wet, green forests
But just for awhile.

Seven

She returns to the South
Her children in tow
Back to her roots
And back to her family.

Eight

One by one, the birds leave the nest
But still she worries over them
and cries for their tragedies
And laughs for their triumphs

Nine

In the twilight come more
Two girls and four boys
And lots of dogs and one cat
All of them her grandchildren
All are celebrations of her life.

Ten

All of the children of her life
Are who they are because of her.
And for her, this is her life’s fulfillment
The joy she feels for the sacrifices she she made,
For her, it has been worth it.

She is my mother, and her name is Angie.

The Hall of Blue Flames

Above the diluvial plane stood the mountain
Gazing down the steppe and fields of thistle
To the small hamlet with the waist high wall of stone,
On the Isle of Skye, the village of Brittle.

Hearty Scots there knew of the man,
Ancient in days, and dark in nature
Who resided in a hidden Refuge
Near the peak of Sgurr MhicChoinnich

Though their benefactor was hardly seen,
He was known to watch them all.
But ne’er did the dark man appear in the mist,
Nor broach the stoney walls.

From the spirit man that resided there
There was only one request to them,
“Keep lit the Cairn of Aingus here
And dinna not seek entry to An Lasrach Gorm Uaimh”

Quelling Adenosine

Elixir of awakening, water of life
Smokey essence of synaptic ecstasy.
The scent of the grind, the sound of perculative bliss
Oh, how I love your chemistry.

To wrap my hands on ceramic clad heat,
The scented steam tickles olfactory
And the quaff of velvet smoothness
Engenders alert faculty.

Good morning!

Shakespeare with a Twist

Romeo and Juliet, star crossed lovers of yore,
Destined to a heartless end by familial animus
Forever doomed forever more,
Succumbing to the patriarchal rivalries

How so this adolescent aspiration
Saw through this acrimony,
And dreamed of bliss and celebration,
and matrimonial ceremony.

The treachery of the apothecary,
The missed communication,
Left poor Romeo aghast and solitary,
And tainted with suicidal persuasion.

And we, the heartbroken audience had hoped
How much more joyous if they had just eloped.

Dear Leeloo

Dear Leeloo,

I know you’re happy at The Rainbow Bridge.
Did you greet Galahad, when he he got there?
I’m sure he was looking for you,
You know how he is, always so scared.

I miss you more than I can say.
Your sweet laughing face, always ready to play.
I know you have made other friends there, as well.
Buli and Walker, both as sweet as you are,
They’ll be waiting with you,
For the rest of us to get there.

Don’t worry about me, I’m not alone.
I have Lara with me, to keep me at home.
Before you know it, we’ll be together once more
And there will be walks and treats,
And cuddles galore.

Be good, sweety…
I know you always are.
And we’ll be together again,
And never again apart.

Love,
Daddy

Letter to Isaac

Hello again
I know it seems like forever
Probably even like never.

How have you been, wherever it is you are?
Is that you I see, by that tiny star?
Is it cold out there, or warm?
Is space quiet or is it like a storm?

I miss you, you know.

You made so much sense out of things that didn’t make sense.
Like is matter light and is starlight dense.
Or do robots want to be like us, or want us to be like them, you know?
Or will the currents of space make the sun explode?

I suppose I’ll have to wait to ask you these things, in person.
And hey, how is that World Season?

Hello?

Eyes

Her eyes are reflected on my mind
They light the darkness in my heart
Just a flash and I see her face again
Feel the tingle, feel the charge

Never believed I’d meet her
Never look into those eyes
When she came into my life
Like an angel in the night
She fills my heart with her light
and now her memory holds me tight, again.

I’ve searched for a night of eternity
Seen her only in my dreams at night
And then she came to my reality
Drawing towards me with her eyes

I’ve seen those eyes before
Those eyes, I’ve seen them in my dreams
Now I know what their vision means
We have a life it seems
The love we share is real
Now can we keep these feelings now and here?

I can’t believe I would fall in love
I’ve thought of lessons I had learned
Without a word she makes me understand
Memories I’ve already earned

I feel a Spark between us
That make me realize
We were meant for each others eyes
And now we’ve made the ties
A communion of our lives
And we’ll not sacrifice the light we share

Slipping Away

It’s no surprise to me
No one knows you as I do
Hearing, listening
You narrate what you do

Can almost see you cross your arms
Defiance in your eyes
Giving back the grief to those,
So much to their surprise
It has me…

Slipping away, I’m slipping away
I’m slipping away with you
Lost in the day, I’m slipping away
I’m slipping away with you

How strange it is
How different we are
And still we see
The same elusive star

Is this the bond we share
This literari of our minds?
The give and take, articulate
The stories rarefied
They have me…

Slipping away, I’m slipping away
I’m slipping away with you
Lost in the day, I’m slipping away
I’m slipping away with you

Scotch I would prefer

“The page opens to snow on a field: boot-holed month, black hour
the bottle in your coat half vodka half winter light.
To what and to whom does one say yes?” – Caryolyn Forche

Up the dale the wind from the loch,
Finds the stubborn and stoic Scot.

He does not flinch nor does he complain,
E’en on the threat of snowy rain.

The roiling clouds, on pallet gray,
Suggest it is a winter day.

“Nae, ’tis summer and I am stoned,”
“But not b’whisky,” he peevishly bemoaned.

And setting forth, in imaginary ice,
He sought sweet refuge in Highland gneiss.