The Poetry Marathon

The moon drifts through the canopy above
It’s light reflects upon the mountain lake
The dimmer light which shines with God’s own love
His glory which he gives all for our sake
His heart for those who wonder in the dark
That they should never have to walk alone
With smaller lights for sailors who embark
To guide them as they journey far from home
He gave the sun yet gave us so much more
He spares a thought for all his creatures who
Walk through night and darkness in their scores
And if he watches them he loves us too
Giver of light we thank you for your care
For none must walk the dark without you there

My home’s the road which leads me place to place
My car, my roof, I search for peace of mind
Exploring towns, each one a brand new case
A mystery I solve then leave behind
I hope to find a town I cannot solve
A place who’s mystery I can’t unwrap
A place, no matter how firm my resolve,
I cannot find a way to fully map
Yet each town seems so similar to last
Resemblances grow closer every time
I feel as though I’m circling my past
No mystery beyond this road of mine
Which stretches on horizons yet to be
I cannot stop my curiosity

Idolatry which tempts my every turn
What is the cure? What standard can I raise?
There is no hope for me if I can’t learn
To place in thee my hope and all my praise
Tis ye, who formed the world and made our home
Tis ye, whose praise alone we all must sing
Tis ye, who when humanity did roam
Took on our form and died to take death’s sting
And still we cannot praise thee as we ought
Our hearts, impure, will find another tune
Help us to claim the victory you bought
And sing our praise to thee who’s coming soon
In thee there is no shadow, turn, or bend
Our father, help us love thee ’till the end

Remember when we walked the mountain range
The water gurgled near our wooden path
We made a vow that we would never change
And always live outside the world of math
Geometry snuck in to shape our world
It built in simple lines and basic forms
The fractals lost their power in the whirl
To slowly rising squares and all their norms
We saw the walls grow up in symmetry
As nature lost itself to brick and glass
They rose and rose ’til all that we could see
Was walls we’d built through which we could not pass
Inside our cubes all closed up at the seams
We’d visit mountain ranges in our dreams

I’m sorry, not easily said.
You know I mean it when I say I
love you, but you knew that already.
Even if I don’t always show it.

You know I mean it when I say I
Think of you all the time.
Even if I don’t always show it.
And now It’s even harder because I don’t

Think of you all the time.
I’m sorry, not easily said.
And now It’s even harder because I don’t
love you, but you knew that already.

My death awaits me somewhere up ahead
Each step I take leads me to it’s embrace
I must go on I cannot stop instead
It looms ahead and waits to show it’s face
Is fear of this my only lot in life?
A fate that grows much closer year to year
Be bold, be brave, do not give up in strife
All life must end for now be of good cheer
Though haunts me still one day ahead I’ll die
And when I do, I don’t know what I’ll leave
What meaning is the light gone from my eye
Does light return? the hope of those who grieve.
Yet this I know one man has died and rose
In death we wait to follow where he goes.

A friend died. Another’s friend died. It was the same funeral but not the same friend. There is no honesty in death, a revelation of nothing. He is survived by the used.

The man with the masks
Appears to each as himself
A simulacrum

O screen of glass who bears many a touch
Deliverer of knowledge and of laughs
At times you have become a mental crutch
You work for me more than an office staff
Your curvature is straight though you are old
For a device that is; your years are four
The time will come when I will have you sold
As you will slow and weaken in your core
New processors and screens will come to be
And obsolescence will become your fate
Though you have spent these many days with me
You will exceed your best-before due date
O screen of Glass who’s always in my space
It’s not your fault that you will be replaced.

The first sign was no receptionist
An empty office building, is this a test?
I hadn’t been sure what to expect
But the invitation was from an unusual sect
Known for their daring, their frequent absences
A strange light in their eyes, unusual presents
A door on the left a door on the right
Everything quiet, as still as the night
I could turn back now but that’s not what I do
So I opened the door on the left and went through
That was the start of the journey I made
The opened door better than if I just stayed

While golden light takes on a grayer tone
The loss of sun the loss of easy sight
Humans were never meant to be alone
In darkest woods strange creatures wake at night
The flashlight hangs from string on his backpack
He takes it in his hands as darkness comes
The woods close in around his lonely track
There are a myriad of strange outcomes
That could in darker hours come to pass
He’s running under trees of shifting shapes
He loses speed while crossing the morass
He should not stop and yet he does and gapes
A fluttering a shadow moves and then
He vanishes and is not seen again