The Poetry Marathon

I should write a little, a nonet

With nine little syllables, oh yeah

But I keep thinking basket-

Ball, like hoops and dribble

Throw it high up and

Get three pointers

Slam a dunk

No net

Swoosh

When I turned 20 I received

My most powerful feeling

A warm yellow of joy and spring

From which I get no break.

You’d think me glad,

and far from mad,

But of course! I haven’t any choice.

The darkened sky can’t make me cry

But gives me plenty of work.

Some not so “lucky” need my joy

To get through their day.

Flowers in bloom

Distilling a mood in time

Before I send it it their way.

But I ask you, my dear,

If all you feel is joy

how can your head be clear?

My feeling are dim, and I

I’m limited to acting

Upon the feeling’s whim.

The solution lies in a secret

The middling colors won’t ever know

nor will the children who feel for free

Oh! There’s the door,

a knock awaiting me!

At last, hooray, it has arrived.

My case of anxiet-tea.

Four Oaken walls with four stout logs,

Gumboots on the porch,

The scent of sourdough, fresh-baked,

Wafting from the rustic storefront

Picturesque in simplicity

Beneath a periwinkle sky spread thin

Across the trees

Where deep within the forest

A roving engine rumbles

Spouting a thick cloud of smog

Then sputters silent pulling

A jeep to a rumbling stop

‘Neath a sycamore taller than a

Skyscraper, emerged a lone

Forest Ranger.

His eyes are sharp,

Sharper than a needle,

As he goes about his beat

And yet his demeanor softens

When the wooden porch is beneath his feet

For just inside waits Miriam the Baker

And she always makes him a sweet treat.

When we turn 20 we begin to feel something.

A feeling stronger than the rest.

It starts small in the chest,

A pulse, vibration, a flash

It gets bigger, fast for some

Growing and overwhelming

All the rest.

Most get light, positive colors

Yellow joy, pink affection,

Lavender love and gorgeous sunny happiness

Their lives are set, they can give

Their positivity to others

I guess I’m not so lucky

Heavy and dark with vibrations

of blue.

I’m depression incarnate,

Sadness and pain

Melancholic and yet

while my prospects are bleak

It feels right.

Not all darkness is bad

But I could still fail

to make a living.

Why would someone need sadness?

(To be continued)

Do you want to dance with me?

Under silver bells and pine trees?

Will you float down main street?

With frost and wintergreen?

Will you accept this bracelet?

With gems that match your eyes?

A symbol of my affection as we celebrate the new year.

And will you let me kiss you?

Beneath the fireworks as the silver ball drops?

I wish to flow across

The waves again

across the sea

Instead I let

Man expand

A devil’s bargain

At great cost

They pushed us back

and walled us off

Rather than sharing

Our homeseas.

I never loved him

Just the idea of being him

Or like him

With his legs

Those legs that could

Do anything.

The rumors got it twisted,

dunno why the witch thought

That I was in love with a stranger

Or that three days was enough to try

The legs she spelled into existence.

Every step is hell on earth to me

Yet it’s worth it to dance a bit

And run across the sands

The sun is setting sadly

If I don’t do this I guess…

I don’t want to return to the sea

It’s time to bite the bullet.

It’s time to kiss the boy.

I don’t want to be here

Everything’s too wide.

I don’t want to stay here

I hate how hot’s the ground.

So I’ll go up higher

Make the wide seem small.

Rise above the widened

And turn it into tall.

Because I…

Don’t have to stay here.

I can rise up high

Drift along the wind

And gladly touch the sky.

I like to go outside, I dream of hunting mice

My neighbor used to be fun to play with

But now he’s lazy times twice

I leave my home behind just to look around

Another kitty attacks me, what?

There’s a whole world outside

I meet so many cats.

Some are friendly some are not,

But I’ll join them nevertheless.

I’ve got a new name now,

They will call me Firestar

They used to call me Rusty

And then my collar snapped

I’m Firepaw and I’ll be the best warrior

Just trust me!

Hello I need windows

In my new building

please give me 3 windows

To let in the light.

Put them on each floor

To maximize my light.

Oh you’re quite expensive

I wonder why that is.

I hope you keep the windows nice

Money is no object.

Oh you’re a modern architect

You’ve made my windows strange

I guess they’re kind of artsy

and artsy is nice I guess

At least you aren’t a brutal architect…