The Poetry Marathon

Death sighed
The living were so tedious
They all have to die
Some sooner than others

The end journey is always the same
I don’t come running to them
But if I visit
Most cannot get away
Some do seem to beat the rap
Their time was not really up
I called to warn
Do no try to help me along the way
Cherish the life you are leading
Treasure those around you
Remember …
Death is the ultimate adventure

I know each number
Before any are born
And when the clock ticks its last
There is never anywhere to run

Formal challenge is write a nonet
This poetic form requires …
Write a nine-line poem now
Line one, nine syllables
Decrease one each line
Until only
One word is
Left to
Write

Autumn descends … slowly
Directed by nature’s magic
Leaves surrender to the hues of red and flaming gold
The world, buttons-up all to await the changes

Colour me yellow in shades of decay
Leaves stencilled as images of the living
Green, green the rushes grow
Sweet hours spent within the fields
In meadows and woods
Foraging under hedgerows
Lost in a bygone era

Protected from the anguish
Children allowed to just be children
A simpler lifestyle
Where time seemed to stand still

I’d rather be the sugar that coats your lips until you can no longer speak my name
Than a fond memory of bygone times
To again take your hand and drag you through the fog to freedom
Stay close as the haze clears and the dreams begin
Leading us both into the land of make-believe
Where all things are possible
And non-achievable
Clinging to you as the mists start to clear
And reality is reluctantly reclaimed
Lingering deep within your subconscious
Until the time comes
And we meet again

Wives tales passed down the ages
Oral traditions dating back well before pen and ink
Are all true, or so we are led to think
But …
Chocolate doesn’t cause acne
And while fish as food for the brain is almost right
Carrots won’t help you see at night
Reading in a dim room
Doesn’t cause damage to your eyes
And as to spicy food giving you an ulcer … that’s just lies
Wet hair in the rain makes you ill
But feeding a cold and starving a fever
Is simple not true for either
So remember …
Although we may think that Grannie knows best
Science proves old proverbs may just jest

Mr Lockwood, a rich man from the south
Rented Thrushcross Grange for the sake of his health
Up at the Heights, that Heathcliff, was getting stranger
In that remote moorland farmhouse there lurked all kinds of danger
It all started when the Earnshaw’s moved in
Catherine was all of about six back then
A traveling man he adopted the Heathcliff boy
His son took none to kind to that kind of ploy
He hated him but that Catherine was obsessed
Hindley was packed off to college a young man possessed
When old Earnshaw kicked the bucket, Master Hindley came back
Cathy was none too pleased about that
With Heathcliff she ran wild on the moors
Till those at the grange once caught them and Heathcliff was dismissed once more
She changed into a proper young lady in the end
And laughed at Heathcliff … he vowed revenge
He scarpered then, no one really knew when
Returning a few months later, buffed-up as a right gentleman
Catherine was delighted
Edgar, the love of her life thought the future was blighted
Paying off Hindley’s debts Heathcliff surprised everyone
But eloping and marrying Isabella who bore him a son
Cathy died birthing a girl
A beautiful lass, but high-spirited as hell
She knew nothing of Heathcliff and the likes
This is where it all gets a bit complicated which led to fights
Young Cathy eventually met her cousin Hareton
But Heathcliff planed for her to marry his son Linton
Now master of both Thrushcross and Wuthering Heights
Cathy was given no choice or rights
Then Linton ups and dies
As to Heathcliff he went barmy right before their eyes
Started seeing visions of his Cathy at the window and on the moors
Not long after he joined her, buried together forever more

The font of all knowledge
Wellsprings of optimism
The tap of occasional insight
Buckets of useless trivia
Sprinkles of dubious facts
Puddles of misleading statistics
The drought of despair
Arid death of all hope

What is this trying to tell me
It’s not something that I yearn
What am I supposed to discover
What am I supposed to learn

There must be a reason
To teach me what I need to know
But all I see is hardships
And don’t know which way to go

All I can think is why is it happening
What is it that I’ve got so wrong
But I know that I can get through this
All I have to be is strong

Mankind that walks upon this land
Behold the destruction at your hand
The ultimate doom you did succeed
With actions levied in the name of greed
Wreaking havoc on a perfect world
Taking bounties you beheld
As inexhaustible

Humankind you have no shame
You saw the devastation in your name
But cared not for the harm you’d bring
To every creature and living thing
Please stop before all is lost
And you surrender to the ultimate cost
Total annihilation

Not yet … he said
The time is not right
The earth is unaligned
The sacred path unknown
Dreams come
From beyond the wall of separation
Incursions of the dead
Seeking freedom
Shapeshifters
Dragons
Walking among the living
Their destination … Earthsea