The Poetry Marathon

Having faith creates miracles
that that one can see, and feel.
Faith keeps one grounded
and fighting for one’s goals.
Faith is the energy that motivates
and all who desire to move forward.
Not everybody believes in faith
until it waves a hand “hello”
at the non-believers,
but having faith is a wonderful
and uplifting experience.

Copyright@2016MartinaGallegos

A smile and a ray of sun
both can brighten someone’s day.
A smile is a twinkle in the heart;
a ray of sun is a twinkle in the soul.
A smile is like giving a flower to a child;
a ray of sun is like a hug to a parent.
Everybody needs a smile and a ray of sun.

At the beak of dawn
I can feel the ocean breeze
gently waking me,
and I hear the doves cooing;
I don’t hear my hummingbirds.

Hello,

I feel I don’t really know what I’m doing. I see a lot of posts on The Poetry Marathon Facebook Page, and they also show up on my Facebook stuff, but can’t understand how that happens. I just want to make sure I’m ready for Saturday.

Martina Gallegos

I’m checking to make sure this is working, or that I know what I’m doing. Please make a comment or respond.

I’m feeling slepless

thinking about marathon

It’s not that day yet

but my mind is now raising

I will be tired by then

😉

I’ve been getting myself mentally ready for the Poetry Marathon by thinking of topics, and genre I would like to feature. I signed up for the half marathon but hope to keep going. It will definitely be a challenge to do either one, but it’s good for my still healing brain. Have fun, everyone!

I’ve been getting myself mentally ready for the Marathon. Even though I only signed up for the Half Marathon, I’ll keep going as long as I can.

I’ve been thinking of topics to write about as well as poetry genre. I’ll be using genre I learned many years ago as well as some recent ones I learned when I took an online poetry workshop.

In 2012 I suffered a ruptured Achilles’ tendon at work. Two weeks after surgery, I suffered a massive stroke. I was in medically induced coma to save my life. It was a hemorrhagic stroke that also caused swelling of the brain. My prospects for survival were pretty grim, in fact, doctors told family to get ready for the worse, that they’d done everything they could. To everybody’s surprised, I pulled through!  After rehabilitation, I went home to follow-up home and outpatient care, physical, speech, and occupational therapy. I started writing as a for of therapy. I also did volunteered work and went back to school, online this time, to resume a Master’s degree. I started publishing one month before my graduation ceremony. I’d have gotten my Master’s because I’d started it again before my stroke, but I don’t think I’d have taken writing seriously if it hadn’t been for my stroke. That’s why I tell people: The stroke is the best thing that happened to me; the really bad stuff all happened after my stroke. Here I am, habitually challenging my brain, but this time with writing to participate in the Half Marathon and hope to continue to the full Marathon.

Hello,

My name is Martina Gallegos, aka, Martina Robles Gallegos. I came from a rural town in Mexico at the age of fourteen; I spoke no English at all, and my Spanish wasn’t that great either. I had to learn both languages when I started school in the United States, as a junior high schooler. Since teachers didn’t know how to teach me, or what to do with me, I had to devise clever ways to teach myself English.

I moved on to high school, with teachers doubting my ability to succeed. I started using the language I’d learned even though it was still pretty bad. It was here that I met some wonderful teachers who saw potential in me and trusted that I’d make the right choices; I wasn’t going to disappoint them. To shorten my story, I lost my mother to suicide when I was in tenth grade, but I studied super hard and graduated top ESL student. I attended community college, facing more challenges but persevered then moved on to university. There I faced more societal obstacles but managed to focus nevertheless. Unfortunately, I lost a sister to suicide, the second family member. Again I had to give 110% to stay in school. I graduated and then got my bilingual teaching credential.

I taught for almost eighteen years until a work injury followed by a massive hemorrhagic stroke, coma, brain and heart surgeries ended my teaching career, but I tell people: and that was the best thing that happened to me; the nightmares began after I got home.

I became a volunteer at my local hospital and elementary school since I was not allowed to even visit my worksite. I resumed my Masters but couldn’t attend ground school because of the driving thing. I then looked for and found an online program. I changed subjects but enrolled and, facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles, I was able to complete my Masters degree. I started publishing a month before my graduation. I graduated with my Masters and my daughter with her high school diploma.