The Poetry Marathon

My dear younger self,
This is your future – no,
Don’t walk off, there’s things
I want you to know.

I remember you well,
So new to the abyss
We’ll return there, but
You can get through this

Happiness is not
Confined to the past
I can promise you
The pain doesn’t last

I can’t promise you
That we win this fight,
But I know this much:
It will be alright

Form: Line Messaging

Smell the fog rise from the coffee
Swelling the rich, dockside air
Tell of the kindness of moonbeams
Spelling the dull concrete fair.

Rush now, the canteen is closing
Push to fit mugs on the shelf
Hush, let the cook leave in peace – she
Must, at long last, feed herself.

Form: Lento

Prompt: Write a poem that contains at least five of the following words and possibly all ten: Moonbeam, Coffee, Hush, Fog, Canteen, Damn, Concrete, Fir, Shelf, Dock

I got nearly all of them, just missed the full ten by one. Damn.

The moth chases the pretty lights
Reflected from beautiful things
The moth can’t reach them in one night
And can’t see the jewels on its wings

The butterflies sip sugar cups
The blackbird glories as he sings
The moth at times feels envious,
And can’t see the jewels on its wings

Chasing lights can be dangerous
More than once the candle’s breath stings
The moth quests on, impervious
And can’t see the jewels on its wings

The moth chases the pretty lights
And can’t see the jewels on its wings

Form: Kyrielle Sonnet

Prompt: Use the title of a book as the title of your poem

If you’d direct the masses to go,
Not necessarily to war
This works just as well for any cause,
These are some rules you ought to know

It’s vital to give the crowd a show;
Remind them what we’re fighting for
And, if any of them seem to pause
Accuse them of loving the foe

Many in your party will be low –
Never, ever sound insecure
Or impatient – yes, they may be bores,
But you still need them, don’t you know?

Once you’ve won the crowd, don’t take it slow!
Be bold and let them gape in awe
Meet opposition with loud guffaws
Ridicule is simple to sow

Hold on tight to power, don’t let go
After all, that’s what power’s for
Bang the drum and magnify the cause
Lest supporters melt like spring snow

If you’d direct the masses to go,
Not necessarily to war
This works just as well for any cause,
These are some rules you ought to know

Form: La’Tuin

Prompt: Use the title of a book as the title of your poem. The poem doesn’t have to be connected to the book.

My ideal reader must like
Tamora Pierce, Terry Pratchett,
And Josephine Tey

Though I don’t write magic,
Or comedy, or mystery; yet
These are my best fit.

I think my audience will be small.

Form and prompt: Write a sevenling.

Come to the place where nature’s blessings flow
We’ll settle in a life long left behind
To play the music fast, and sing it slow

The world outside may scream and fall apart
But it can’t hurt us living in the past.

Reality’s become a crazy show.
We’ll take the modern world and hit rewind
Come to the place where nature’s blessings flow

Forget the world and all its many cares
They’ll kill themselves just fine without us there

We’ll tend the crops, we’ll reap, and plant, and hoe
We’ll live the simple life and still find time
To play the music fast, and sing it slow

And if they bomb the cities flat at last
We’ll sell our goods to any who come past.

The two of us need fear no friend or foe
No threats or enmity of any kind
Come to the place where nature’s blessings flow

No duty have we but to us alone
We didn’t make this planet a warzone

We’ll live in peace, and never need to go
We’ll set the pace, and it will be just fine
To play the music fast, and sing it slow

The world could end and we would never know
The perfect spot to live well and unwind
Come to the place where nature’s blessings flow
To play the music fast, and sing it slow

Form: Grá Reformata

Prompt: The video in this post. I expect I’ve completely misrepresented the song, sorry – I was listening to the mood rather than the words, and I’ve long wanted to write about the dark side of self-sufficiency.

This form is tricky. I should have given it more than one hour.

Locked in and locked out both at once;
So slow, I convinced I’m a dunce
In all the social niceties.
Some friends help, other like to tease the encumbrance.

Locked in when I can’t leave my bed
For the pain in my back, legs, and head.
Locked in when I can’t talk or hear,
For the roaring fog in my ears leaves me dead.

Locked out when a shop says, “Boo-hoo,
“You can’t make us put ramps in for you.
“Stop acting like you have the right
“To give decent people a fight, you scrounger, you!”

Locked out and locked in, with no cure;
There’s nothing to do but endure.
But one choice is left here still mine:
If I want to let this define me: No. I’m more.

Form: The Florette

Prompt: Write a poem about being stuck in a very small place, actually or metaphorically; or Write a poem about being locked out, actually or metaphorically.

I see through many other eyes
And feelings share as though inside
The heads and hearts of beasts and men
I am when dreaming, now and then.
I walked in Tudor times again
As someone’s loyal and trusted friend.
A family of monstrous men
And women, I was one of them.
I dream in vivid stories when
I walk in the shoes of other men
These stories have just one down-side:
They never end before I rise!

Form: Duo-rhyme

Prompt: Be inspired by a dream, without saying it’s a dream.
Not strictly followed, but acted as a starting place.

Night
Dark sky
Stark and wide
From the bright city
But bid the lights goodbye,
And see dark skies blossom pretty
Points of light, becoming clouds of bitty
Distant fires, or rocks in space reflecting light
From the hidden sun, behind the gritty
Bulk of Earth, the shadow fitting
A window in the sky
Show the pretty
Lacy shine
Of fine
Light

Form: Diatelle

Prompt:

I walk,
In my mind, past
Limitations imposed
By wearied limbs and brain-fog.
Outside.

Outside,
The white clouds drift
In sparse, scattered clusters
Brilliant against the trees and
Houses.

Houses
Stand dark, empty
As owners head outdoors
Bound for work or play, enjoying
Sunshine

Sunshine
Bathes the garden
In light, and heat, too much
For me to bear, I sit inside,
Happy.

Happy,
Are you surprised?
Yes, happy despite all.
Contented, I lie and look at
Clear skies.

Form: Crown Cinquain

Prompt: Go for a walk, and be inspired by what you see, hear, smell, and feel.