The Poetry Marathon

Take it on the road and reach for the stars.

Go and see everything life has to offer.

It could be anything from scaling mount Everest to hitting the game winning shot.

Learning a new language, fixing the world with the peace corps

or taking on a youthful ward

But whatever you decide, make sure it counts

or else, what’s the point?

He started from the bottom just like the others,

faced constant adversity in his pursuit of excellence

and then one day it all just clicked. next thing he knew,

he was locked and loaded.

He strived every day to reach maximum potential and

in the process, lost everything he once held dear.

because the truth is the destination didn’t matter one bit.

all that was important was the journey.

That’s who we were.

Stranded by forces beyond our control.

Isolated from all we love.

But we were strong, rose up from the ashes

and come out the other side.

So we should be proud of all we’ve accomplished

and continue that strength

because it will carry us

forward unto dawn

Each one has its own story

millions of years old

waiting for its corresponding person

to fill the void it long since forgot.

They all go through the same cycle.

Come of age, learn to make it in a world

designed to break them, fall in love,

spawn the next generation, complete

their arbitrary bucket lists and leave with

a sense of fulfillment. A presence desperately

needed in a place long forgotten but also a shred

of hope for the once and future king.

It starts when you first realize

where you are.

It’s all the rivers and

roads you traversed along the way.

It’s looking deep inside and knowing

this is the pinnacle of existence.

This is where we’re meant to be.

It just trickles down into a pool

of obscurity, one among many seeking to make

it to the end.

It cares not where it stops,

only where it’s going because

that’s all it knows.

It may not seem like much in that moment

but when it finally reaches the bottom and

feels the cool ocean breeze all around, it will

realize the waterfall was there all along

just waiting for a catharsis of ubiquity.

Because nobody else will.

Those nostalgic days of yesteryear forever

seared into my memory have become

indelible symbols of the ornate uniqueness of

existence.

How many times did we play soccer during lunchtime

or go ice skating without any skates?

Commandeering the slide for our own glorious purpose

and swinging up to endless heights.

Dunking on our own hopes and dreams and

carving our own niche in a world that could never comprehend what it truly means to be alive.

Through the summits and bases,

we never lost that childlike wonder that defines us.

Because it’s eternal.

Because we were out there searching for a meaning

that was right in front of us the entire time.

To all those who have come before,

I appreciate everything we’ve endured

lest we faded into an obscurity beyond comprehension. Don’t

kill your darlings no matter how tempting

it may seem.

Never in existence or any type of

good place

did I imagine rencountering someone as

omni-benevolent as you, someone who

makes every day worth living, who

can make

our world a better and more

magnificent place just by existing. Thanks for just being you, for

everything.

Because you’re worth it.

Because none of this would be the same without you.

Because we are

Forever

in

xanadu,

you

own

uniqueness

and no force in the universe can change that.

The lab is not your home

no matter how many times you sleep

on that dilapidated davenport.

Because you can’t face the truth,

look it in the eyes and tell it how much

you were wrong, how you regret what

you’ve done.

So you can continue experimenting all you want.

You can mix together all the chemicals

in the world but it won’t cure the worst

disease of them all: apathy.