The Poetry Marathon

I planted flowers seeds, and most of them didn’t grow

never broke through the dirt, though I willed them so

I gave them water and even a dose of Miracle Gro

I picked the best places all around my yard

Broke up the ground, it was dry and hard

pulled all the weeds, told them they were barred

I gave them every chance to reach for the sky

and most of those seeds didn’t even try

One look at my yard and I just have to sigh

a tiny bit of them sprouted, new and green

a pageant to crown the summertime queen

maybe they will bloom and help the scene

I hope that everyone who passes by can see

I’m doing my part to help them to grow and be free

The way that so many people have done for me

Old Perry lost an eye in a fight in Barbados

He lost his leg to a shark that swam too close

He got a hook for a right hand

When a mutiny didn’t go as planned

He had scurvy three different times

But lived through them all without any limes

He fell overboard and was deserted near Port Royal

But to his captain he stayed loyal

He robbed and pillaged as good as any

Even though his troubles were many

He was shot three times in a battle at sea

With his last breath he whispered “A pirate’s life for me!”

Neon glows smooth, cool and bright

Illuminating the honky tonk night

A disco ball sends points of white

Across denim and rhinestones, visual dynamite

Bodies all pressed together with carnal apetite

The woman hugged on me ain’t no ten but she looks alright

A little older than me but her body is tight

She’s getting drunker, I don’t mind sharing her plight

I think she’s ready for my grand invite

So to my place we go for bedroom delight

It was over real quick, She was hard to excite

I drank too much whiskey if I’m being forthright

I hope she stays pretty when the morning sun replaces neon light

Good morning catfish

I hope that you slept well

I’ve come to see you

At the pond where you dwell

I brought you some breakfast

It ain’t no biscuits, nor any eggs and bacon

But it is a whole buffet

I’m sure you’ll find something worth takin’

I’ve got a cup of red wigglers

And stinkbait and a fistful of nightcrawlers too

I’ve also got some chicken livers

And a rainbow of lures, surely one of these will do

I’m gonna send it all down to you

On a hook one cast at a time

So you can eat it all up

Right in your bed of mud and slime

When I attempted this three years ago, I failed. Miserably so. Not this time.

I like to write fun poems that rhyme. It rarely takes me more than ten minutes to write a poem. I lean on the couplet scheme too often. I get better when I’m drinking.

My ultimate poetry goal is to publish a book of poems that folks would keep for bathroom reading.

She was like wisteria
Wild and free and purple
And she exploded into view
When summer turned to fall

How could anyone know
That I would love her most of all

What I came to learn
Is she was wild and free for sure
But she bloomed anew every morning
In the garden that earned my blue ribbon

She never fades, or falls away.
The sun never spoils her color.
The rain never beats her down.

She’s my wildflower.
Untamed by my gaze
unaffected by my hand
free to run and grow
I am ever focused on my wildflower
The view is never bland

I’ve lost count
Of rhyme and verse and beers

And words that rhyme with beer

But I’ll fix it all, even if my methods are queer

The next will be counted fair
And I’ll be more aware

Lucky thirteen and nowhere near midnight
Nowhere still closer to daylight

It’s the time of night where one party ends
And another begins

Every song sounds better
And the pool is wetter

Some folks can hang and some folks can’t
Some keep drinking when they shan’t.

The night is far from over yet
And the morning brings retribution you can bet.

Thirteen is though unlucky,
And maybe it is, when the rhymes are sucky.

But I’ve got time this night
And many more after

Another beer in and I’m back again
I’ll pay tomorrow but tonight I’m free

Everybody loves me

Or at least I see it though the beer
And the way they stay near

The pool is too cold
And I’m too old

And nobody likes my music

Times change
And walk past us

Tides roll and roll
And don’t wait for us

We trouble the waters here and there
And they still don’t stir for us

We tame the rivers and streams
And all the same they flood us

We move earth and mountains
And it crumbles underneath us

The noise created by our progress
Chokes and disturbs us

We can’t free ourselves from limits
We can’t tame what holds us

There’s no savior
We are forever bound

By the world we create