The Poetry Marathon

So sweet a population

So innocent a town

So beautiful a people

That linger all around

So darling a community

That has these little hearts

Written in the stop lights

To tell you when to stop & start

I read if I should die aloud

Middle of the circle

The pain of which I hoped and prayed

Would not be universal

Talking little girl and lilies

Talking please just let me die

Those with happy childhoods

Need never apply

And when confronted with the truth

Confronted with the story

Never have I ever felt a high

With so much glory

It will forever be a favorite moment

Faced with all the facts

When my mentor heard my poem and

Very nearly shat his slacks

I have always been the one to say

That darkness is a friendly

The foe is when the lights show

Daytime monsters never ending

The monster in your closet?

Don’t you worry, they’re an ally

The boogeyman?

She’s nothing but a guardian goddamn fairie

The darkness is a blessing

The shadows are your safe space

The light is when reality begins to play the game

Real life Monsters always want you

To memorize their face

about that text I sent last night

ignore it

it’s a draft

I was drunk and it was late

and I hit send too fast

I didn’t mean to tell you

I mean I did, but in the end

you knew I loved you long ago

and now we can’t pretend

it’s out there

now I’ve said the thing

for far too long ignored

can we really act like

it just doesn’t matter anymore?

Book the room card ending in

Some crevice of The Alpine Inn

Make sure to get 2 double beds

One for sleeping, one for sex

Pack us something light to eat

You’re gonna need your energy

Lots of water on location

For fending off the dehydration

Don’t worry, it won’t all be sweat

But it will get very wet

Possibly enough for you

To have a side effect or two

If we’re lucky you may manage

To forget the English language

Hope the bathroom counter holds

As all of my plans unfold

Leave the maid a hefty tip

For ruining all the things we did

For nearly breaking down the door

And soaking through the carpet floor

Expect a call about the madness

And the state of that poor mattress

I’m sure you know the adage

Leave not a stone undamaged

I’ll drain you physically and mentally

But goddamn what a memory

We’ll cancel that one card of mine

To avoid the crazy fine

So go ahead book the room

Starting Friday afternoon

Once upon a frightful year

When I was but a babe

I forsook the nine month timeline

And decided to escape

To follow my example then

My lungs refused to breathe

And to keep my tiny heart afloat

They placed me on machines

Once or twice a fortnight

Or once or twice a night

Alarms would tell my mother

While giving her a fright

That I was on death’s doorstep

Turning blue and frigid

Not to breathe again until

She flipped me and insisted

But though my lungs would not expand

My arms would do my bidding

And sometimes I would cause the sensor

To be a bit ill-fitting

Alas, she grew so weary

She tired of this annoyance

This babe that interrupted slumber

Allowed to be so joyous

And so she threw the sensors out

She said to me, good luck

If you can move your arms

Then you can breathe, you stupid fuck

And isn’t that so funny?

A tale of me as tiny human

At least she found it humorous

At family reunions

The one thing that I needed

Was the same you wouldn’t grant me

I tried further explanation

But you couldn’t understand me

Couldn’t being wouldn’t

You had so very many chances

And if only you had asked

I would’ve given all the answers

I needed ‘cause I love you

I needed utter disbelief

But when I asked you why

You married me

To show me I’m naïve

You looked me in the eyes and said

I thought you’d never leave

Today I have no energy

No more room to fight

I’m filled with so much darkness

There’s little room for light

I want to say to riot

Fill the streets with fire

Give each and every Justice choice

To die or to retire

I want to say to protest

Till the forefathers are haunted

To scream for revolution

But I’m too goddamn exhausted

The simplest cruelty we can perform on another human being is to mock

the sound they make during the moments they find joy

To see a living breathing person with hopes, and dreams, and love

and turn their happiest moments to ash in their mouths

To the vultures who circle for everyone’s light:

It is my sincerest wish for you that you always get pulled over for broken taillights

That you never have enough milk for your cereal

That you don’t realize this until after you’ve poured your Lucky Charms

That you mistake your Nair for toothpaste

May you develop a spice intolerance to every seasoning but butter

May your alarm clock break every second Tuesday night

May it sometimes not go off in the morning

May it sometimes keep ringing till it shatters on the wall

May your coffee always be cold, but never iced

May your favorite kind of coffee be lava

I wish for you no illness

But an allergy to every domesticated animal known to man

An intolerance for allergy medication

And a deep, inconsolable love for all things four-legged

Most of all, I wish for you this

That every moment of joy that you steal from someone’s lips

Be multiplied tenfold in your misery

It amazes me that the world is so full of contradictions

I’m sorry, I meant life is full of contradictions

I’m sorry, I mean living

I mean me

Me living life

Me living

Me alive

Me alive is the biggest oxymoron I can think of

Me alive is constantly thinking of ways to die

Me alive spends most of their time not living at all