The Poetry Marathon

Of the moon I have naught to fear
Her silver breath calms me still

Upon my lake of glass
I ride the placid waves

The rhythm that pounds beneath my breastbone
Tells the tale of my past

Of when the waters did my life spare
Once when I thought myself immortal

The illusion made near deadly
By the my youthful glory

Above the depths rippled my life giving canopy
The mercurial duality of calm and stormy

Panic set upon my heart for all was lost
Until that moment of reprieve

When arms so loving saved me from the depths
Of rubbery boundaries
And I was only three

The comfort of a bed
The warmth of a blanket
Clean water
Hot food
Shelter from the elements
Save from that of surprise
Imagine mine, when I found myself out here
Where the pavement and the mattress are of the same cloth
Double woven asphalt with a hint of Goodyear
Now when momma said, “Don’t you go off and do nothin’ stupid.”
Maybe I should have asked her to be more specific
And maybe not sound quite so insipid
Maybe I’d have been more vigilant
And not so quick to make with the first one I came across
I won’t say it was anyone’s folly, not at all
Yet, there’s a certain sense of injustice
One I cannot shake
For all attempts and purposes
This world has no break
To give or have or even get
Someone is almost always out for just them
Unhappy, and unsatisfied
Even all is what they got
Yet I am here
In this place
Of concrete and asphalt
Scraping for just enough to get by
All the while feeling the wind
Of the elite getting ahead

I’ll not be judgmental of those above
They paved their ways in the way they knew of
While I, of lesser mind, wiled away my time
On life and happiness and being free
Of choosing between their life and mine
Sure it’s not the upper tier
I may not be accepted in the upper echelon
Nor viewed to be redeemable by my own kin
I know I have purpose and worth
A lesson, perhaps
Maybe a cautionary word
Take what you may from these lines I have writ
Everything costs something
But only you can deem the worth

Oh your flavor is ever so tasty
Beef
Pork
Oriental

Though my preference is fowl
I will not balk at the latter
Except for Shrimp
How disgusting

Despite my reservation for the shellfish
With any other I am most selfish

Now don’t mistake my relish for flavor
It’s Chicken Ramen that I most favor

You fed back when bread was scarce
Saved me pennies in my latter years

College and after into my 20’s
You filled my stomach when my cupboard was empty

I see you down there looking snug
Rested, untested, and feeling all smug

Sure you’re fancy
With your stupid umbrella

Drinking your mai tai
Or is it Gin and Tonic

Either way, I can’t stomach you
Or the way you chew your food

I only came here for the fish
Being the far better dish

So here I am on the top level
Looking down on my known devil

You’ll never know, I can say
If it was me or just rain

For all the time spent in toil
I can’t but help to feel the spoil
Of body and mind and all my resolve
Yet here I stand, unbroken

When day light fades, I feel the shade
Cover my aching frame
I sigh in relief at days end
Yet here I stand, unbroken

Where is rest beyond the plight
Of unending days spent in toil
Of nights lost to pain and fitful sleep
And there I lay, unstirred

Upon cocks crow I rouse unrendered
To face the day, rest left untendered
Yesterday’s trial still within me
Yet here I stand, unbroken

Though I long for quieter days
And nights not spent in angst
The prospect of tomorrow biting my feet
And there I lay, unstirred

The value of what my body endures
Spoils not the value of my toil
It gives value I cannot enumerate
Yet here I stand, unbroken

The edge looms not far ahead

Two steps more and I may be dead

But then there’s the sound of doom astern

Is that a voice I heard?

Perhaps it’s just the shadowed bird

Nary a quote of foreboding warn

Just a noise to drive the truth home

It’s just the roll before the storm

That roils about my anxious dome

Walk the edge

Push the square

Let my fear take me there

Taste the dread in my head

Ply the sheets of my bed

Traverse the nightmare where I’m dead

Feel the heat pierce me through and through

And all at once my eyes are clear

I’ve naught to fear

The feeling of dread was in my mouth. By the time the elevator stopped, I could feel the panic continue to rise. I knew what to expect, and yet I was still taken aback at her being there. Greeted with a half crooked smile and a vacant heart I said, “Hey. Long time no see.” Of all the scenarios I imagined, I’d not expected a lack of blood shed.

The cold air pierces
Memory of warmer moments
Ghost of love long dead

When we will stand and greet the future

Then doff the cloak of the darker times

Where is the cure?

Where is the plan?

To unite the world of the faltering man?

Here are the lights and the wires and the frame

Of a future so bright

With a pilot so dim

Instant message

Electric correspondence

Book of faces for time and long lost spaces

This world is rife of future endeavors

Yet still I wonder if things should ever get better

For every advance in machine and means

We step away further from being

Human is a word of days late

To be feared and surpassed

To be treated as one more affliction

Technology and all its wondrous things

Stand hollow to the course on which man has placed its feet

When the towers fell about our heads

We wondered short of the cold and dead

Who to blame and who to strike

And so it came to pass

When word and action carried

The world aloft on arrows

A trajectory of folly

No weight or power could alter

Trumped by foolish favor

Foiled by fury and fear

Reason gave way to revenge

Solidarity, to fear

Oh your light gave a fright

To this lone wandering star

So used to the dark of the night

Being afraid is all it had known

One nightmare to the next

Every step was a fight

Searching for a place called home

In a word or a place

Who ever knew it was in a name?

And then you came

From beyond the shallows of night

Smiling a ray of hope

And all at once it never knew

What was before the darkness