The Poetry Marathon

No Escape

Away from the madness
Yet still connected
To those that want to see you
And what you do
Your life lived in full view
Shared to give others a clue
As to the real me
The one you want them to see
Editing is the key
The perfect image
At the right time
Portraying a lifestyle so divine
That they can never compete

[inspired by the image]

Redacted …

Negativity

Colour my world black and white
That I may see the stripes
Created by the human kind
A barcode catalogue that will never scan
To register the plight of man

[inspired by the image]

Games to Play

Hide and come seek
What’s in the closet
Come take a peek
It might be a monster
Or something more bleak
Or a hideous freak
That’ll make us all shriek

The Unknown

Walk with me
Into the world of unreality
Where everything is impossible
And nothing is real
Take my hand
Trust me to lead you safely
To a destination you have only dreamed about
If you want to see what is down the path
You must first let someone
Open the right gate

[Inspired by the image]

What is Love?

Is it always what we imagine it would be?
Is it even what we hope it should be?
Can it be a million different things?
Can it be so diverse that two people can never agree?
Is it always going to be a compromise?
A yielding of expectations
Or can we really hold out for the ideal?
Should we?
Or could we be happy with less?
To settle for what is offered
In the hope that one day it will be enough
To sell ourselves short
In order to have something
Anything
Rather than nothing
Is true love all encompassing
Or an unrealistic dream?

Halloween

A lightbulb moment
Under the carport
Elbow deep in a black bucket
Rummaging for a trick
Or hopefully a treat
My hands began to tremor with excitement
As I pulled out a cinnamon stick

Sunset

The sky ablaze
Changing minute to minute
An orange inferno
Sinking towards the skyline
Brushing the surface
Full to half
Half to a slither
And too soon the last rays die
Leaving the land to the power of the moon
And the magic of another enchanted night

[Inspired by the view from my study looking out to sea and Max Richter – On the Nature of Daylight]

A Wonderful World

To those that can see
This is no mere swing
It is a portal to another land
Where Dorothy takes you by the hand
And leads you down a yellow path
To meet a scarecrow
A lion and a tin man
Each on a special quest
To find what they feel is missing
From their life
In this magical place
Of style and grace
And wickedness and of love
But once the game is done
And there’s nowhere left to roam
There really is … no place like home

Over the Edge

There be dragons
Fire breathing
Fast flying beasties
Playing catch with the plants
Riding the Milky way like a roller-coaster
Vaporising space monkeys
Scattering ash like snow upon our land
Flaming the sun as it tries to hide
Icing the moon
In hues of blue against crimson
Beware
Don’t get too close
All the mysteries of the unknown
Can be found … over the edge

Turn the Key

Whoever said that when one door shuts
Another opens
Were wrong …
They can be reopened
But beware what you might discover
Some are closed for good reasons
So best turn the key
And throw it away