The Poetry Marathon

It’s a gift to be short winded

Eloquent

Able to make something from nothing

Being concise is a form of wisdom

In and of itself

One I would pride myself in having

She was a goddess of words

And knew it

I watched in amazement

When her lips moved like water

Her audience fell victim to charms

A magic unseen

A mystery of ecstasy

Write something about writing

And so I will attempt to paint through poetry

What it means to be a writer

For words to pour through your fingers

The process

Fountain pen in hand

Gliding across the page

The outcome

A piece of the soul

They called it a “Traffic light party”

So I showed up in blue

Merely there for the jello shots

Red, yellow, green

Tasting too much of tequila

That I broke vegetarianism to taste

On a college experience whim

Because I was worried one day I would be tame

I was tipsy

So you walked me home

Disappointed

Lost between pages of The Second Sex

Late hours passing before my eyes

In a common space

Surrounded by friendly silence

My eye catches the swift fall

A spidery strand of web

Cascading across the window

Covering one sliver of a wall of windows

I dance across its path

And I watched and watched and watched

You were the water to my–

Soil, eroding my banks with your river

Your water, with vigor runs

And what to?

What to thee?

Perhaps the blue

Sea

Or to me? Wilt

You come to me? Welcome

Me?

To show you what commitment means

Flayed raw for you

Open

Honest

You gasped

Stitched me up

To show me I meant something

So I laughed through your

Meaningless procedure

You were you

And I was you too

We were lost in some

Universal consciousness

Where I swore I could read your mind

And so I lashed out for it

When you couldn’t read mine

We were one and I hated you for it

I loved you in some twisted way

I swore you loved me too

In a way I cannot explain

In a mystery universe

You were a magical man

And I thought I knew you through

The way you looked at me

We were together

Lips locked

A crowded party around us

And I thought I knew you then

In a room of strangers

You were I and I was you through

Some juvenile make out session

A universal consciousness

One in which we were one

I thought I could read your mind

I thought I understood a stranger

But you were wrong and I was foolish then

A child in the headlights of a car

Late at night when I should have been home

I lost sight of myself when I was with you

You seemed magical

You seemed part of me

But I was foolish then

I was younger then

The days Allison spun me

My head thrown back

Giggles escaping my throat

A front yard swing

A tree that’s long since died

A distant memory

A distant location

My ribs are a broken cage

And the bird has long since flown free

You were the doorman

Stark and stern

While I cowered in fear

My body flayed open for you

You stood before me

You hovered over me

Infinity in your irises

My eyes fluttering

Heart pumping

I cowered in fear

You led me to my awakening

My body flayed open for you

A recent emptiness to fill

You found the door

You closed me up

I had lost something only to gain you

Watching me through piercing eyes

Blood red wings beat before me

You opened me

You touched me

You resurrected me

And the bird has long since flown free

She threw her head back and I—

Saw the world through her buzzed eyes

As she began dancing to a song I could not hear

The waves crashing at her feet

And she loved the cool touch

Shivers running through her nerves

She had long since used

Invigorated

Her body fell to the sand

Becoming one with the earth

Her gaze fixated to the cooling sky

The setting sun