The Poetry Marathon

Toes of a small girl

Feet tender and soft

Wiggling in the jet

Of the swimming pool

Walking across the yard

Early in the morning

Grass wet with dew

Tickles her arches

Chalk on the driveway

Bright colors and drawings

Dusty fingers and faces

Washed away by summer showers

Attraction

Eyes meeting

Staying locked in

Drinking the soul

Closeness

A bond

Only the two of you know

Connecting you

Touch

Goose bumps

Tender and heated

Stirring desire

Intimacy

Satisfying pleasure

Give and take

Snuggling close

Going for a run at dawn

Watching the sun come up

Returning for coffee and a muffin

With someone who loves me

Walking the path that goes

Back through the woods and streams

On the family farm

Feeling the sun kiss my skin

Swimming in Lake Michigan

Playing in the waves

Laughing with a playmate

And lying on the warm sand

A barbeque with friends

Sitting on the porch

Retelling our favorite stories

While enjoying each other’s company

A boat ride at sunset

Camera in hand

Breathing in the scent of water

Enjoying the night coolness as it comes

A passionate kiss

While hanging out with someone special

On the tailgate of a pickup truck

Watching fireflies light a dark yard

Slipping into bed with cold cotton sheets

Drifting off with the night sounds

Coming through an open window

Sweet dreams waiting to be dreamed

The moment of knowing loss

Is filled with so much emotion

The sudden emptiness

The stop of the current between you

Death will come to us all

At some point in time

But before it does

We will experience the loss of many

Mourning the absence

While being bombarded

With the memories

Both significant and ordinary

Their laugh, their smell, their touch

The ease of being silently together

And the loudness

Of being silly and playful

The closeness of those

Who also felt the loss

Close and heavy

Making it hard to even breathe

It is almost too much to bear

But day by day

Year by year

It eases, if only enough to go on

To look back and appreciate

Time you were given

And the gift

Of having them in your life

Every day is filled with unplanned events

Some are good, some are not

We are forced to deal with each

In the moment

Anxiety and depression

Color each, making it bigger than it is

It can be consuming

And overwhelming

But one must decide

And deliberately react

In a way that will lessen the blow

Letting it stay surfaced as it belongs

Taking the good, the bad,

The hard to understand

And focusing to stay above it

Learning from it and accepting it

Discovering along the way

That each has a place

And can lead to growth

If we are willing

Until we accept life

Embrace the changes with resolve

Welcome the unpredictable

And realize that it all leads to fulfillment.

The real-ness. 

The emotion.  

The questions.

Life.

The softness of a warm summer morning

The crispness of breath in winter

The smell of fall leaves drifting to the ground

The sound of a loud forceful spring storm

Wakens every sense

Presents every emotion

The melancholy of a gray winter day

The joy of life budding in spring

The resolve of leaves changing and falling

And the happiness of honeysuckle in summer

It always keeps us guessing…

But it’s a great excuse to buy boots

Laughter of children

Wave after wave

It heightens and fades

And begins again

The merry- go- round

Turning faster and faster

A world of imagination

As one dreams of space travel

Adventures abound with every visit

And each piece of equipment

Monkey bars transform

Becoming whatever will best suit the scenario

The swings- the swings were my favorite

I loved to start from still

And pump my legs to create the movement

The pace quickened, and I would fly

A toddler sways or bounces to the beat

Not knowing steps or direction

An older person who seems to have withdrawn from the world

Will react to it and once again, briefly return

Some listen to get hyped up and move without thought

While the ballerina dances gracefully, the very movement of sound

A tool used to relax, drive, escape, and capture us

It is the essence of the movement as we exist

Here on the stage of our lives

May we always allow the music to speak to us

And remember to dance

It can be one of the easiest or hardest

relationships to maintain

Some will always be there

as you are for them

But others will pause and remove themselves

expecting understanding

These are the hard ones

bonded, yet strained

I have been on both sides

the reaching and the withdrawing

I have been rewarded with forgiveness

that I sometimes find hard to give

But as we ebb and flow into each other’s lives

the rhythm finds a way

And soon we are around a table laughing

as if no time or space has passed at all

I picked up the vintage wingtips at a thrift store

They were used of course

The leather was well kept, polished

Soft and in excellent condition

The soles had been warn smooth

And the laces were tattered and thin

As I looked closer

The bottom of the right shoe was worn more

It looked as though the wearer

Had constantly had a load to carry

I couldn’t help but wonder

About the story of these shoes

Who had been the owner?

What was his life?

I knew that he was hard working

From the wear

Responsible and grateful

From the care

And frugal

From the laces

But most interesting is what I could tell

By studying another person’s sole